Joe Lamrenje (FOX5)LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
A 30-year-old man Las Vegas man was charged with sexual assault and burglary after police said he attacked a woman while she slept in her apartment on the valley's southwest side.
Joe Lamrenje is accused of breaking into the home near Flamingo Road and Buffalo Drive at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. The victim told police she awoke to the suspect on top of her.
He smothered her with a pillow and tried to remove her clothing, police said.
The woman was able to fight the suspect off but not before being hit in the face by a blunt object, police said. She was hospitalized but is expected to recover.
Detectives believe Lamrenje is linked to a number of recent burglaries in the same apartment complex.
One victim said she confronted the suspect who entered her apartment, threatened her with a sharp object and fled with her purse.
Police determined Lamrenje as the suspect after the victims provided similar descriptions to detectives.
Lamrenje was booked into Clark County Detention Center on charges of attempted sexual assault with a weapon, battery with a deadly weapon, burglary with a weapon and coercion with force.
Police urge anyone with information on the incidents to call Metro's Sexual Assault Section at 702-828-3421 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
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