Forest Grove police: Gun-toting victim thwarts rape

FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Police have arrested a man after a woman was sexually assaulted in her own home in Forest Grove, just west of the Portland suburb of Hillsboro.

Floyd Dale Elliott faces rape and burglary charges after being accused of entering the victim's home in the middle of the night last month. Police said he then tried to rape her.

The woman reportedly grabbed a gun, hidden near her bed, and started firing.

No one was hurt.

The victim's friends identified Elliott in the investigation. Elliott was arrested without incident.
 

UPDATE: KATU's investigation has uncovered that Elliott is a 53-year-old transient. The woman was 23 years old, and was asleep in her home at the time.

We're told that the woman grabbed a 22-caliber rifle, fired it in Elliott's general direction, and he ran off. Police arrested him not long after the incident in his van on Forest Grove's Fir Road.
 
Police tell KATU that Elliott did not break in, as other media has reported. Police said the house was unlocked and the suspect let himself in. A burglary charge still applies, since he was not supposed to be there. Police said this is important to note so people in Forest Grove "aren't thinking some crazy guy is breaking into houses and trying to rape women."
 
Police also told KATU that Elliot knew the victim's friends, and had gone out with them earlier that night.