Sawtelle woman recounts terrifying altercation with naked attacker
It's hard for Cherie Harter to admit that she felt weak when a naked man brutally attacked her last Thursday.
"He was on top of me, and I couldn't breathe," said Harter, 63. "I couldn't breathe and that's when I got really, really scared. I honestly thought I was going to die."
Harter was inside of her Sawtelle home when 33-year-old Ishmail Bangura allegedly broke into her home. She said he put her in a headlock and started viciously beating her before she managed to escape outside. However, Bangura caught her and pinned her to the ground, face down.
Harter recalled that Bangura threatened to rape and kill her while laid on top of the woman. She remembers that Bangura tried to muffle her screams for help by shoving a lime into her mouth.
"I couldn't get out from under him; that was the scariest feeling ever," Harter said. "I am scared. The past two days have been really hard mentally."
After hearing Harter's screams for help, nearby construction workers and other Good Samaritans rushed to her home and cornered Bangura until police arrived. When officers arrested Bangura, they learned he hit a 3-year-old before breaking into Harter's home.
She sustained cuts along her arms and bruises all over her face. Harter needed 10 stitches to close a wound on her forehead. Even with all of her injuries, she said the emotional damage Bangura inflicted on her is the most painful.
"I just want him put away," Harter said. "I don't want him hitting little 3-year-old girls or attacking 63-year-old women."
Investigators said Bangura lived in the Iris, a building across the street that houses formerly homeless and low-income tenants.
"It was built for a good reason," Harter said. "Let's keep it that way."
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Bangura with two felony counts for allegedly hitting the child and attacking Harter. Records show Bangura has been arrested in the last two years.
He's currently being held in lieu of a $2 million bond.
