Assault victim's condition improving Assault victim's condition improving (October 13, 2004)

** Magazine solicitor is arrested on multiple charges.

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

The condition of an 80-year-old Menlo Park resident, hospitalized following an attempted sexual assault in her home, is improving, police said Monday.

Police arrested Dangelo Langford of Georgia, a 19-year-old door-to-door magazine salesman, and charged him with assault with intent to commit rape, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, kidnapping, false imprisonment, elder abuse and resisting arrest.

The victim suffered cuts and heavy bruising to her head in the attack, which occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on October 6, on Alice Lane, a quiet, neatly landscaped cul-de-sac off University Drive lined with duplexes and small apartment buildings.

It's a neighborhood that typically doesn't see a lot of crime, said Menlo Park police Detective Jill Jensen.

"That's what's so surprising about this," she said.

The woman opened her door to a man who forced his way into her house and assaulted her, said Sgt. Mike Amaral.

Two of the woman's neighbors heard her screams and interrupted the crime. When the assailant fled, they chased him for several blocks, said Detective Jensen.

About two hours later, Menlo Park police arrested Mr. Langford on Waverly Street at Lytton Avenue in Palo Alto.

Mr. Langford is also wanted on an unrelated outstanding felony warrant for aggravated assault with a handgun in another state, said Sgt. Amaral.

Menlo Park requires door-to-door solicitors to apply for permits. Mr. Langford was part of a Michigan City, Indiana, organization selling magazine subscriptions called O.H./New Generation Inc., said Detective Jensen.

Officer Glenn Raggio said Menlo Park police have been cracking down on out-of-town solicitors for the past year, and said he personally urges people not to encourage their presence by giving them money.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.