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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Man accused of assault held on $100,000 bail

COLFAX – A door-to-door magazine salesman who was arrested Friday in the sexual assault of a Pullman woman in her apartment is being held in the Whitman County Jail on suspicion of first-degree attempted rape and burglary. Bail is set at $100,000.

Christopher Day, 20, appeared in Whitman County Superior Court on Monday. After learning that Day doesn’t have a permanent residence, had no place to go and had only $30 to his name, Judge David Frazier told Day he would not release him on his own recognizance.

Day was arrested Friday afternoon after a 26-year-old woman who lived in the 300 block of Gray Lane told police that at about noon, a man selling magazines talked to her for a few minutes and then forced his way into her apartment and attacked her. The woman said a man matching Day’s description grabbed her, pinned her against the living room wall, touched her breasts and placed his hands inside her shorts, according to a police report in Day’s court file.

The man fled the apartment, possibly because he heard noises outside, but he came back to collect a piece of paper that had his name on it, the report said.

Officers were able to track Day down after contacting his employer, which is listed in court documents as Unlimited Sales Inc. of Gig Harbor, Wash., but is described by police as a company out of Nevada.

Police contacted the company’s van driver who was transporting salespeople to and around Pullman. With the driver’s help, police figured out where Day would be waiting to be picked up, according to court officials. “They went to the intersection, and there he was,” said Carol Laverne, Whitman County’s chief deputy prosecutor.

The woman later identified Day as her attacker, said the report.

On Monday, Day told the court he doesn’t have a permanent address, has lost contact with his family and grew up in foster care in Arizona. Because of Day’s lack of roots and the serious nature of the potential charges, Frazier said he wouldn’t consider changing Day’s bail.

Pullman police are investigating whether Day was involved in any other criminal activity Friday. As far as officers know, there was only one victim, said Police Chief Ted Weatherly. The department, however, is sending out a description of Day to officers in other communities.

The alleged assault comes at a time when police are looking for a serial rapist who attacked two Pullman women and may have assaulted a third in their homes over the past year. Physical evidence and a description of the crime connect those three attacks.

Police said that based on Day’s physical appearance, he is not a serial rape suspect. Day is tall and thin with a dark complexion. The serial rapist is described as having light-colored hair and being between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall.