KZTV

Posted: Feb 8, 2010 1:32 PM
Updated: Feb 8, 2010 7:45 PM

CORPUS CHRISTI -- Residents in a  Calallen neighborhood are on edge after a woman narrowly escaped being raped there this weekend. A man who knocked on her door appeared to be a missionary because of the way she was dressed.  

The streets of Calallen are typically safe and quiet, but it was a totally different scene Sunday evening on Oglethorpe Drive when a woman opened her door to a stranger.  

"She said he knocked on the door and said he needed to use the bathroom, and once he was in the house he tried to force himself on her," said Lt. Edward Longoria of the CCPD.

Fortunately, the woman fought him off and was not raped, but the incident has neighbor Darlene McCarther keeping a closer eye out on the neighborhood.

"It's scary, scary, but like I said, never open the door,  lock it," McCarther said.

The woman told police she believed the man was a Mormon missionary because he was wearing a white shirt with a blue tie and gloves. His bad intentions became clear when he tried to force himself on her. Darlene McCarther says crime in their neighborhood has increased in recent years. 

"I have one surveillance camera in my bedroom, which covers one side of my house, and I have another camera in my living room that covers another area of my house," McCarther said.

McCarther says she taught her sons at a young age not to open the door unless they know the person. Words of advice local law officers agree with.

"In these kind of circumstances when you have someone unkown to you, I mean you may be disarmed by their appearance, but you don't know who they are, the rule of thumb should be not to open the door," said Lt. Isaac Valencia with the CCPD.

As for Darlene McCarther, she warns anyone she doesn't know agaisnt knocking on her door because they'll come face-to-face with a deer rifle.