Man Attacks Woman in Home; Camp Pendleton Marine Neighbor Rescues Her

The victim of a bizarre home-invasion attack described her assailant Monday as a rain-soaked, crazed stranger who burst through her front door early Sunday, shouting about demons and professing his love for her.

The ordeal seemed to occur in a flash, she said, ending only when her Marine neighbor and sheriff's deputies came to the rescue.

Speaking to reporters at a Monday afternoon press conference, the San Clemente mom recounted the strange attack, which unfolded as she lounged in bed with her 5-year-old son and year-old daughter.

At around 9:45 a.m., her dogs starting barking furiously, she recalled. Then a man who appeared crazed suddenly stumbled through her hedges on Cazador Lane, rushed through her unlocked front door, grabbed her by the throat and tried to kiss her, she said. 

"He was clearly on drugs," said the victim, a bartender who identified herself only as "Olive."

Her alleged assailant, later identified as 18-year-old Jonathan Aikin of San Clemente, "kept saying that the demons were coming and to shut the windows. I tried to call 911 but he knocked the phone from my hand."

She said the man was soaked from the rain and exhibited almost superhuman strength, although the suspect weighs just 145 pounds, according to Orange County Jail Records.

She told authorities he grabbed her by the throat with such force that "I still can't swallow food."

As the man professed his love and tried to kiss her, Olive's 5-year-old son leapt onto his back to defend his mother, but the attacker slapped him off as Olive cringed under a blanket, she told deputies. The boy sustained bruises to his head and face.

"He was so brave," the victim said of her son. "He jumped on top of the guy. He's my hero."

Meanwhile, her upstairs neighbor, Justin Gerou, a Camp Pendleton Marine, heard her screams and ran down the stairs to intervene. He burst into Olive's apartment and found a man allegedly manhandling her in a bear hug.

"As soon as I saw him [Gerou, I knew I was safe," the woman said. "As soon as he got him off me, I cringed down on the floor. There was all kinds of yelling."

Deputies then arrived, kicking in the back door and using a Taser on the man, according to Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino. Aikin was taken into custody, where he remains on $100,000 bail, awaiting arraignment Tuesday.

Calls leading up to the incident began coming in to San Clemente Police Services about a prowler going through backyards and trying doors to see if they were unlocked. Then more calls reported a woman screaming, Amormino said.

Aikin is expected to face charges of burglary, sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon, endangering a child and being under the influence of narcotics.

The woman was treated for bruises, and her son was treated for cuts and bruises, Amormino said.