Published: April 10, 2008 12:11 am      

Man arrested in store assault

Darren Sharpe also charged with attempted rape, kidnapping

Burlington, Ohio — An 18-year-old Ohio man was arrested on Monday for allegedly attempting to rape a woman inside a restroom in the Wal-Mart store in Burlington the previous evening.

Darren Sharpe of South Point was apprehended after he returned to the store for a second straight night and went back into the same women’s restroom where the alleged incident occurred, according to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department.

Sharpe was charged with attempted rape, kidnapping and felonious assault. He gave a statement to detectives “indicating his involvement” in the crimes, Sheriff Tim Sexton said.

Sunday’s incident occurred about 7:25 p.m. According to Sexton, a 29-year-old woman was “physically accosted” in the ladies’ room by a man who brandished a knife and engaged in “threatening actions” against her.

The suspect released the woman within minutes without physically harming her and fled the store, Sexton said.

On Monday a man matching the description of the suspect in Sunday’s assault entered the store and employees saw him go into a ladies’ room, Sexton said.

Workers cleared the restroom, locked the suspect inside and contacted the sheriff’s department, Sexton said.

“The management and personnel at the Burlington Wal-Mart have been very cooperative, conducted themselves in an extremely professional manner and were instrumental in the apprehension of this individual,” Sexton said.

Sharpe was lodged in the Lawrence County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday in Chesapeake before Lawrence County Municipal Court Judge Donald R. Capper.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.