Wichita police arrest alleged east-side ‘serial’ groper after standoff

Wichita police have released the name of a suspect and more details in a case where a 26-year-old Wichita man allegedly sexually assaulted three people in a short amount of time Thursday — two incidents were reported at Towne East Square.

After a standoff, Andrew Elais Jones was arrested on suspicion of rape, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated assault and criminal threat.

When asked by media if this was considered a serial groping incident, Capt. Kevin Kochenderfer said, “Serial, yeah, due to the number of incidents that just happened in a small time frame.”

Around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, police responded to a sexual assault report at Towne East Square, near Kellogg and Rock.

“A female victim reported a male suspect sexually assaulting her outside a store inside the mall and then running away,” Wichita police spokesman Trevor Macy said in a news release.

As officers were making a report of the incident, there was another report of a sexual assault. Officers spoke with the second victim by Von Maur.

“A female victim reported being sexually assaulted by a male with a similar description to the suspect in the first incident,” Macy said. “The male was seen leaving the mall and heading toward the Southeast.”

Officers were looking for a suspect when a third 911 call was made nearby. This one happened in the 8000 block of East Morris.

A person was unloading groceries when someone came up behind her and “sexually assaulted them which caused them to drop to the ground and scream,” Kochenderfer said.

The victim was not injured but the scream alerted her husband inside the home. He came outside and chased the suspect.

“However, the husband stopped chasing the suspect after the suspect produced a knife and threatened him with it,” Macy said.

Arriving officers found the suspect and a foot pursuit ensued.

“The suspect claimed to have had a gun so officers slowed down and the individual ran inside of a house,” Kochenderfer said.

Residents of the home in the 8000 block of East Gilbert told police the suspect lived there. Police surrounded the home before negotiators and officers went inside and found the suspect in a bedroom. The suspect gave up without incident.

Kochenderfer said family members indicated the suspect had mental health issues. During a news briefing near the arrest, he said officers “have been over here before” on mental health calls.

This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 12:26 PM.