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Police: Virginia man breaks into homes, assaults 19-year-old woman and elderly man, bites officer

The man is now being held without bond after the string of alleged incidents on Friday.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — A Prince William County man is being held without bond after allegedly committing a host of crimes on Friday, Feb. 4 that kicked off with attempting to break into three homes. 

Police were first called to the 4400 block of Dodds Mill Drive in Haymarket for burglary just before 10:30 p.m. Friday night. After they arrived, residents told them the accused suspect had moved on to breaking into their neighbor's home, according to a police report. 

Once an officer approached the scene, the police report the suspect hit him while refusing to follow commands and resisted being taken into custody. However, after what police say was a brief struggle, he was secured and put in the police car.

Police detailed that their investigation later revealed the suspect had forced his way into a home and assaulted the owner, a 79-year-old man. Then, the suspect allegedly went on to try to get into the second house, destroying the shutters. Afterward, while standing outside, the suspect allegedly saw a car pull into the driveway. The suspect then proceeded to go over and open the car door and inappropriately touch a 19-year-old woman in the driver's seat. The encounter stopped once neighbors intervened, according to police. 

"I saw him running across the street and he was naked and then he attacked the young lady and that's when I was like I can’t just stand here," a neighbor who intervened said. "I didn’t want to bring him to my house but I couldn’t stand by and see him attack a helpless person.”

Police said the suspect then went to a third house and smashed in the window. 

Rescue personnel then took the suspect to a nearby hospital for "treatment and evaluation," according to police. The suspect went on to bite an officer before being re-secured. After the evaluation was complete, the suspect was arrested. 

The suspect has since been identified as Savonte Malik Manson Hawthorne, a 25-year-old from Springfield. He has been charged with three counts of burglary, two accounts of assault and battery, one count of sexual battery, and one count of unlawful wounding. 

According to court documents, this is not the first time Hawthorne has had a run-in with the law, including charges for malicious wounding in 2020. Leaving some neighbors to wonder why he was out of jail in the first place, and if Friday's ring of terror could have been avoided. 

He is set to be in court on March 8. 

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