Cody Searle, 21, caught up with a rapist and grabbed him after a 67-year-old homeless woman had been beaten about the head and savagely attacked in Albufeira last Thursday at dawn.
"He still had his trousers open and was covered in blood," said the fearless Searle who caught up with the attacker at the bus station and managed to restrain him.
The rapist, Ibrahim Salem was among a group of 15 migrants relocated from Italy in October this year and granted asylum in Portugal. The group, including the Eritrean, were being hosted nearby by the social solidarity non-profit, Antonio Silva Leal Foundation which aims to offer protection to 'children, young people, adults and seniors at risk of social disintegration and exclusion.'
The victim had been sleeeping in the entrance of a bank near some ATMs and was beaten when she resisted Salem's sexual attack, suffering “maxillofacial and nasal fractures,” according to police.
"I saw the woman naked and having convulsions and with blood everywhere," Searle explained, adding that he saw the suspect fleeing and went after him "until he was caught."
During the chase, Searle managed to call the authorities and the suspect, 38, was arrested by the Judicial Police.
"I had to catch him after what he did to the defenseless lady," says the young man, who said he was only doing his "duty as a citizen."
Several crimes by Eritrean migrants have been reported in recent months including the rape by an Eritrean of a 79-year-old woman as she was visiting her sister’s grave in Iddenbueren, Germany.
