Buffalo woman attacked in broad daylight, saved by fast acting neighbors

A 31-year-old man is under arrest after Buffalo Police say he attacked a woman in broad daylight and tried to sexually assault her.

According to investigators, the incident happened on Wednesday around 10:40 a.m. on the 300 block of Virginia Street.

Police say Juan Carlos Escalante Gudiel, 31, of no permanent address, followed the woman onto a porch, then tried to take her pants down, knocking her over and injuring her arms and legs. Investigators say several witnesses quickly came to her rescue and Escalante Gudiel ran away. He was found a short time later at South Elmwood Avenue and Tracy Street.

Two women told 7 News that they heard the commotion Wednesday morning and they stepped in to help.

Dennisse Arroyo said she was walking home from the store when something in her gut told her to go all the way to the corner of her street. That's when she heard a woman screaming "Help!" and saw a man and a woman struggling on the porch of a house.

Arroyo said she ran over to help.

"I grabbed him through his shoulder and I pushed him and as soon as I pushed him, he, he got up. He grabbed my hand and that's when I pushed him again," Arroyo said. "I said, 'No! What are you doing?' All he kept on saying was, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'"

At the same time, Ana Russi, who lives next door, heard the screaming and came out of her house.

"I had never heard screams like that," Russi said.

She saw the three people on the porch. She yelled at the man to stop and told him she was calling the police.

Russi watched as the man, who was wearing a tan trench coat, leave the scene and start walking away. She yelled at two men in a car who were passing by to go after him.

They did, chasing him down Tupper Street.

"Hold him! Hold him!" Russi said she yelled to the men.

Patrol officers came and arrested the man. Meantime, Arroyo and Russi comforted the terrified woman.

Russi called Arroyo the real hero. "She was the one that tackled and she was the one that pulled him off of her," she said.

Erie County District Attorney's Office

Escalante Gudiel is currently facing a four misdemeanor charges, including attempted sexual misconduct and assault, and has been placed on an immigration detainer by the U.S. Border Patrol. He will be held for immigration-related proceedings if he is convicted.

Federal authorities tell 7 News he is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and is a citizen of Guatemala.