A Beaumont man is behind bars Thursday, suspected of trying to rape and kill a woman in a violent encounter at an abandoned Cherry Valley home, Patch has learned.
According to Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Anthony Williams, the man-- identified as 39-year-old Lamonte Jefferson -- was arrested Tuesday.
It all started around 4:47 a.m., when sheriff's deputies got a call regarding an unknown trouble in the 10-500 block of El Monte Drive in Cherry Valley.
"They located a female victim crying and bleeding from a wound to her hand," Williams said in a statement sent to Patch. "The victim stated she was stabbed and had been sexually assaulted by a black male adult..."
The woman said she fought back, though, and believed she had stabbed her assailant before he ran off.
"After an extensive investigation by the Cabazon Station Investigations Unit, Jefferson was located in the city of Beaumont at approximately 6:30 pm, with a puncture wound to his abdomen," Williams said.
Jefferson was arrested and booked into the Banning jail on felony charges of attempted murder and assault to commit rape, according to booking records. He was booked without bail since he's on parole.
According to sheriff's Lt. Pete Ortiz, the man and woman had just recently met.
"They were new acquaintances," Ortiz told Patch. "He's a friend of a friend."
The house where the attack occurred is currently vacant, he said. It's believed the two met up somewhere else prior to the attack, and ended up there.
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