An angry mob has pelted a Pueblo man they believed to be a sex attacker on Monday, leaving him with a bloody face in Colorado, police have reported.
The local residents were reportedly angry that police had not warned them about the sex assaults of children, and events took a vigilantly turn when a group chased a man they believed was the attacker. The group pelted him with rocks, leaving him beaten and bloodied.
Police later apprehended the man, but he has since been released due to lack of evidence against him.
Locals were outraged after hearing that two separate sexual assaults had occurred. When they spotted a man matching the description of the attacker, they confronted him, but he ran from them, sparking the chase.
When they caught up with the man they surrounded him, with some punching him in the face, and others throwing stones at him, police Capt. Tom Rummel has said.
Police were quickly on the scene, and they grabbed the man and threw him into a cop car to take him in for questioning. They reported that he was not seriously injured in the assault.
Residents have been left furious after one local girl had been sexually assaulted in her home. In a separate incident a man with the same description exposed himself to another child.
Pacheco said, "We went through the right channels in contacting the police but there hasn't been much response. We can't wait around any longer without doing something. These are children that this man is after and we can't let any more children get hurt by him."
Police had posted warnings about the sexual assaults on social media sites and had even notified media. However, they are not required by law to notify local residents, as there had been no arrests in the case. This lack of information allegedly led to the heightened tensions among residents.
