Burglar allegedly wakes up woman and rapes her

May 3, 2018

Amid a downtown Santa Barbara crime spree last month, a 24-year-old man allegedly woke up a woman sleeping in an alcove and raped her. Kahlil Byers raped the woman after burglarizing a Foot Locker and a pawn shop, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department. [Cal Coast Times]

At about 5:30 a.m. on April 18, a driver found a distraught woman walking in the middle of the road with significant injuries and saying she had been raped. Police say Byers awoke the woman and harassed her as she tried to run away with her belongings.

Byers chased after the woman, caught her and dragged her down a long driveway. He then sexually assaulted the victim, police said.

The victim managed to escape when a passerby pulled his car into an adjacent parking lot and illuminated the crime scene. Byers then fled in the opposite direction.

While searching the crime scene, investigators found items from the burglaries that had occurred hours prior at the Foot Locker store in the Paseo Nuevo Mall and at Santa Barbara Jewelry and Loan. Investigators say Byers shattered a front window at the Foot Locker store and stole several items.

Soon after, an alarm sounded at Santa Barbara Jewelry and Loan at 136 E. Victoria Street. Officers arrived and found a broken window and received reports of stolen jewelry.

Byers evaded capture immediately following the burglaries. Ultimately police arrested him for burglary, rape and kidnapping.

Officers booked Byers into the Santa Barbara County Jail with his bail set at $1 million.