Man accused of breaking into woman’s bedroom, attempting to sexually assault her as she slept

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A man is accused of breaking into a woman’s bedroom and trying to sexually assault her while she slept Thursday, and police believe he may be connected to similar break-ins in the area.

Police arrested 20-year-old Gilberto Gutierrez-Mendez at a home on Silver Street after a woman reported waking up just before 3 a.m. to a man she didn’t know inside her bedroom, according to Manchester police.

“She heard a noise and when she looked on her bedside she saw a man lying there,” said Heather Hamel, public information officer for the Manchester Police Department. When the woman told him to leave, Gutierrez-Mendez attempted to sexually assault her, and finally left when her teenage son walked into the room, the woman told police.

Detectives are investigating reports of other recent break-ins nearby, including one where a resident said he woke up in the middle of the night last month and found a man inside his home.

“I happen to forget to lock the door and he said ‘Oh, I’m very sorry. I’m drunk, I have the wrong house.’ I thought it was an honest mistake although there was a part of me that said maybe he was trying to do something,” he said. “My girlfriend was in the other room sleeping.”

Police said Gutierrez-Mendez is believed to be connected to a similar break-in Wednesday, at separate home on Spring Street, that happened while the tenants were sleeping. Many neighbors say they bought security cameras after the recent incidents.

Gutierrez-Mendez has been charged with two counts of felony burglary and one count of attempted sexual assault.

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