Prescott Police: Registered sex offender accused of kidnapping, assaulting teenage girl

PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Prescott Police say a teenage girl was allegedly abducted and attacked by a registered sex offender. 

Police say 36-year-old David Littlehale admitted to his crime. He's a registered sex offender and known to police in the area. He's now accused of kidnapping, sexual assault and aggravated assault. 

(Prescott Police)

Investigators say Littlehale kidnapped a 15-year-old girl as she was walking home from Prescott High School.

"He advised us that he was driving in the area, saw this young woman walking on the side of the road and stopped and asked her for directions and then at that point forced her into his vehicle," said Lt. Jon Brambila with Prescott Police. 

He then took the girl to his house, where police say she was assaulted. At some point, she was able to fight him off and run to the house next door. 

"She came in the front door and locked it behind her," said Samuel Tharp, neighbor. 

Samuel Tharp lives in the house next door where the girl escaped to. He wasn't home at the time but says he's glad he just so happened to leave his door unlocked when he left. He says he was shocked to come home and find the girl hiding inside. 

"That’s when I saw her standing with her face all bruised and swollen, she was just standing in a towel," said Tharp. 

Tharp called 911 while his roommate got a hold of the girl's parents to let them know where she was, but there was some miscommunication. 

"Her brother and dad ended up showing up before the police had and came into the yard and held my stepfather and I up at gunpoint right where we are standing now in the driveway with a pistol and shotgun and then they went into my house and fired into my house towards my dogs and that’s when I called 911 again," said Tharp. 

The teen was able to yell to her dad that Tharp and his friends were helping her, according to police. Despite the confusion, police say this entire ordeal could have had a tragic ending had it not been for her quick thinking. 

"I think her ability to fight off her attacker probably saved her from something even more significant so her fighting and getting away I give her a lot of credit, a lot of strength and courage to do what she did," said Lt. Brambila. 

Police say the teen has serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation is ongoing.