Woman uses brush to fend off naked man in northwest Las Vegas

Jonathan Chavera admitted to police he had watched a woman living across the road for a week to learn when she would be alone so he could rape her, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report. Chavera entered the victim’s open garage, took off his clothes and walked into her home through an unlocked door around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, he told police.

The victim, who was not identified, said she left the door and garage open after starting her car and going inside to brush her hair and grab food. She thought her father had returned home when the garage door closed, but when she turned to look, she saw a naked man, later identified as Chavera, by the door, the report said.

When he saw the woman, he started walking toward her, and she began screaming, the report said. Because the man kept advancing, the victim said, she confronted him by “yelling at him and repeatedly striking him on his shoulder and head area with the brush” in her hand, according to the report.

Police later measured the distance he had advanced into the home as 12 feet, the report said.

When the victim reported the incident to police, she said she didn’t know the man.

The victim said the naked man never said anything but backed up, gathered his clothes — a black shirt and pants decorated with skulls and bones — opened the garage and ran across the street, according to the report. When police responded to his house, Chavera resisted a pat-down and was handcuffed.

Chavera, without prompting, told police he was not running down the street naked but took his clothes off in the victim’s garage because he “planned to rape her,” according to the report.

He initially requested an attorney but then said he would speak with police, saying, “We can just, maybe just start the questioning now and see,” according to the report.

After police read Chavera his Miranda rights, he said he had watched the victim for a week and learned which car she drove. Three or four days before his arrest, Chavera said, he entered the victim’s open garage door when she was home alone, but he was scared off when her dog began barking, according to the report.

Although he didn’t use weapons Sunday, Chavera said he initially planned to use a tire iron and duct tape to harm the victim. Chavera said he would have sexually assaulted her even if he killed her with the tire iron, according to the report.

On Sunday, Chavera entered the victim’s garage through its open door, which he then closed to prevent her from escaping, the report said. After the victim screamed and hit him with her brush, Chavera said he ran to his home to pray, knowing police would arrive.

A witness who lives next to Chavera told police she saw someone running down the road that morning and later looked out her window to see Chavera in his backyard “praying and meditating,” according to the report.

Chavera told police he has “schizophrenic-like visions” but is still “grounded in the present reality.” He said he felt as if he was in hell and the “laws of this natural Earth didn’t apply to him,” according to the report.

He also admitted to past animal abuse, including punching his pet dog and letting his pet snake starve to death about three years ago, the report said.

Chavera faces charges of attempted sexual assault, sexually motivated burglary and open, gross lewdness. He remained in the Clark County Detention Center as of Friday afternoon.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.