California realtor violently attacked and allegedly sexually assaulted at open house
A real estate agent was attacked and allegedly sexually assaulted by a man during an open house in Encino, California, over the weekend and the entire ordeal was caught on camera.
Surveillance footage from the front door obtained by ABC’s Los Angeles station KABC shows a man leaning against a wall and speaking with the unnamed real estate agent as she stands on the front step of the house with her arms crossed.
She then steps away to look at her phone and turns her back on the man. He looks up directly into the home security camera, takes a few steps toward her before taking a last glance at the camera and extending his arm to shake the woman’s hand.
Footage then shows the man suddenly lunging at the realtor and violently pushing her over into a bush as she rolls onto the sidewalk screaming.
He runs over to her while she is still on the ground and allegedly groped her chest, according to an interview she did with Fox 11 Los Angeles. He then fled the scene of the crime.
The victim, who asked the station not to identify her, said that she remembered seeing the same man at another open house a week before.
She became visibly nervous on the front step of the house when the man continued to ask her to take him back inside and grew increasingly frustrated with her refusals before the assault.
Frank Bernardo, identified as team leader at Keller Williams Porter Ranch real estate agency on his Facebook page, released a statement on social media regarding the incident.
"The agent is doing fine. She is really shook up. She is really upset … she has every right to be. So we take this extremely seriously in our office," Bernardo said. "It was a female that was attacked but this is a serious situation for everybody."
The victim suffered an injured back and severe abrasions in the attack, according to KABC.
ABC News can confirm that a person of interest was detained at 11 p.m. on Tuesday night in relation to the violent attack of the unnamed real estate agent. The person is a potential suspect but has not been booked on any charges at this time.
