Man accused of strangling, raping woman working at south Wichita business, police say
Wichita police arrested a 32-year-old man accused of choking and sexually assaulting a woman working in a south-side business on Sunday afternoon.
Police spokesman Officer Charley Davidson said Arden William Vanhorn of Wichita was identified as the suspect and arrested on Sunday evening after a 47-year-old woman reported the attack. Vanhorn was jailed on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated sodomy, rape, obstruction of justice, aggravated escape from custody, battery and criminal damage to property. Records show he was arrested in the 1500 block of East Pawnee, near Hydraulic.
Davidson said by email that officers called to check on the welfare of a person at Harry and Poplar around 4 p.m. Sunday found the injured woman. The officers were told Vanhorn went into a business on East Harry where she was working, “held a knife to her, strangled and battered her, and sexually assaulted her,” Davidson wrote.
“She was able to flee the business and call the police,” the email said.
Vanhorn remained in the jail’s custody on Tuesday morning on bonds totaling $327,500.
“The investigations are still ongoing, and the cases will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office,” which will decide what formal criminal charges might be filed, Davidson wrote. He added that Vanhorn has several prior felony convictions and is also “a registered violent offender through the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.”
That registration requirement stems from a Wichita case where Vanhorn was convicted of aggravated assault in 2013, KBI records show. He also has prior convictions for theft, criminal use of a financial card and burglary, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 11:54 AM.
