Woman hurt in home invasion

A woman sustained several injuries when an ex-convict allegedly broke into her apartment unit, threatened to rape her and punched and slashed her body with a knife during an attempted robbery in southern Garapan on Tuesday morning.

The suspect, Fermin Manuel Q. Castro, 27, was arrested after the victim identified him as a former neighbor.

A responding police officer reported that the victim had a black eye, swollen left eye, swollen forehead and left side of the head, and scrape marks and cuts on the right shoulder and elbow.

Fermin Manuel Q. Castro, right, walks with corrections officers outside the courtroom of Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman after a bail hearing yesterday. Castro allegedly beat up and attacked with a knife a woman during an attempted robbery at her house in Garapan on Tuesday morning. Also in the photo is Johnny Basiente John, who was arrested for allegedly stealing a woman’s wallet containing $7,000 cash at a massage parlor in Garapan. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Castro was taken to Superior Court yesterday morning on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and burglary.

Citing the seriousness of the charges and Castro’s criminal history, Associate Judge David A. Wiseman increased Castro’s bail from the original $10,000 to $50,000.

Wiseman said the court considers Castro a danger to the community and a menace to society. He noted that Castro had just been convicted of assault and battery in a 2013 case.

Assistant attorney general Heather Barcinas asked for the increased bail amount as Castro also made a threat of sexual assault on the victim.

Police detective Daniel Maliuyaf stated in his report that a police officer was dispatched on Tuesday at 5:56am to a reported burglary and theft in progress at the Sablan Apartment near Gold Beach Hotel.

When the officer arrived, neighbors led him to the room of the victim, who stated that a burglar entered her room and assaulted her. The officer noticed the victim’s injuries and signs of struggle in the room.

The victim identified the suspect as Castro, who used to be a tenant in the apartment.

The victim told police that she woke up early Tuesday morning and opened the sliding door because it was very cold then and she went back to bed.

Someone then jumped on top of her and covered her mouth and pointed a knife at her neck. The suspect instructed her not to shout and to give him money or he would sexually assault her.

She told the suspect she had to get up to get the money from her luggage. The suspect at first let her go but then punched her several times in the face so she begged him not to kill her and that she would give him the money.

The victim then kicked the suspect and ran toward the living room, shouting for help. The burglar chased her and pulled her neck and hair.

During the struggle, the suspect hit the victim on the right shoulder with a knife. He then ran out of the balcony and jumped down to the first floor, landing on his buttocks.

The victim had a good look at the burglar and identified him as Castro after his shirt’s hood got removed in the struggle.

Castro ran away, limping. The victim kept shouting for help, then neighbors came.

In November 2013, Wiseman sentenced Castro to 30 days in prison for assault and battery. In that case, Castro choked his pregnant girlfriend during an argument at their apartment behind Gold Beach Hotel on Sept. 28, 2013.