Suspect in near-fatal Sacramento attack was recent parolee

AP

Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004 | 11:25 a.m.

SACRAMENTO - A 28-year-old man who was paroled from prison last week was in custody Sunday after being arrested by sheriff's deputies investigating the beating of a woman who was abducted, after arriving for work, then burned and left for dead.

The 52-year-old woman had just arrived at Mercy San Juan Medical Center about 6 a.m. Saturday when she was kidnapped from the hospital parking lot and forced to drive to a bank and withdraw money from an ATM.

Her abductor then drove her around Sacramento and tried to sexually assault her. He beat her until she was unconscious and cut her throat before dumping her in Thornton, a town on the Sacramento delta in the southern part of the county.

Sheriff's deputies were called shortly before 10 a.m. when the woman was seen running across a bridge. They found her bloody, partially clothed and with burns across 20 percent of her body.

She was then taken in critical condition to the University of California, Davis Medical Center, where she underwent surgery to repair a damaged carotid artery.

"Her recovery will be long and arduous," said Sgt. R.L. Davis, a sheriff's department spokesman. "She is extremely lucky to have survived. It was quite brutal."

Deputies spotted Daniel J. Harper on Saturday afternoon driving the woman's Toyota Corolla and chased him before he crashed a short time later. Harper was taken to a hospital and then transferred to the Sacramento County jail, Davis said.

Harper was being held on charges of attempted homicide, mayhem and sexual assault. Other charges may be brought before his arraignment, scheduled for Tuesday, Davis said.

"Clearly, he left her for dead," Davis said. "There is no doubt in our mind that he believed she was going to die."

Harper was released from a state prison on Wednesday where he had been serving time for carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Davis.

The victim's identity was withheld to protect her privacy, but Davis said she did not work as a nurse at the hospital.

---

On the Net:

www.sacsheriff.com

--

archive