Woman goes to restroom in Mississippi mall, man waiting inside beats and rapes her
Gulfport MS July 26 2021
A woman is recovering in a hospital and an alleged assailant is under arrest after she was brutally beaten, raped, and then robbed in a mall bathroom stall.
Police in Gulfport, Miss., said Andrew Malik Jones, 28, was waiting inside the restroom at Gulfport Premium Outlets when the victim came in at 6:43 p.m.
The victim told authorities that Jones forced her into a stall, physically assaulted her and then raped her, according to WLOX-TV.
Next he grabbed her purse and ran, attempting a sprint through the parking lot, the victim’s husband told WLOX.
But he and other bystanders nabbed him and held him down until police arrived.
The woman is hospitalized in New Orleans with a fractured skull and other serious injuries, WLOX reported.
She and her husband had been vacationing along the Mississippi Gulf Coast from their home in Oklahoma and were with their young daughter, he said.
Jones, charged with robbery and sexual battery, is being held in Harrison County Jail pending a court appearance, on $1 million bond total — $500,000 for each charge.
