Police: Man tries to rape woman, says Devil made him do it
“I was at the counter helping customers out. I was talking to them like I'm talking to you. When I looked in my peripheral to my right, I saw a lady getting grabbed from behind,” said Alex Cantu, store manager at National Pawn and Jewelry in East Austin.
That's when Cantu knew he had to act fast. His actions were in good time as well.
“With me being where I was at the counter, if I were two feet away I wouldn't have been able to see it,” said Cantu.
It's a good thing he did. On Monday, police say 35-year old Javier Cervantes followed behind a woman and asked for her number several times. When she refused, he attacked her and tried to drag her in this wooded area. Cantu says it was mid-afternoon. That's when he ran out of the store.
“I was like ‘let her go’ and he wouldn't listen. I asked if she knew him, she said ‘no he's raping me, get him off me.’ I ended up grabbing him, he let her go. I threw him to the ground. Me and some other people held him down until the cops got here,” said Cantu.
When Austin police officers arrived, Cervantes admitted to trying to sexually assault the woman saying the Devil told him to do it.
“He didn't care at all. It was hot that day and he was wearing a hoodie and black sweats,” said Cantu.
Cantu says the victim is a frequent customer at the pawn shop. Some would call Cantu and the others, good Samaritans. He just believes he was just doing what his instincts told him to do.
“I would have done it for anybody,” said Cantu.
Cantu says he spoke to this woman and she's doing fine, but it will take an emotional toll. Cervantes was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping, a first degree felony. His bond is $75,000.