Downtown Waukesha business owner raped, man charged gets $2M bond

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Kendrew Wilson Jr., 23, of Waukesha, is accused of raping a downtown Waukesha business owner inside her store, leaving her with injuries a hospital nurse characterized as "the worst damage she has seen in a long time."

Wilson is charged with first-degree sexual assault of an elder person, repeater and misdemeanor bail jumping for the Feb. 23 attack at the victim's downtown Waukesha business.

Prosecutors say he was out on bail at the time, released from custody the day before the attack, charged with carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct for an incident on a Waukesha Metro Transit bus. 

Waukesha Police Captain Dan Baumann called the rape of the business owner horrific.

"Things like this don't happen," said Captain Baumann. "How can you treat another human being like this?"

On Feb. 23, prosecutors say Wilson was at the downtown bus terminal and claimed to be having issues with minutes on his cellphone, so he went to an open store. The owner, 68, said he asked for money, and when she said she didn't have any, he asked to use her phone. She allowed him to make a call via her landline business phone, and she said he appeared to be looking at debit/credit card while doing so.

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They then began some small talk, and Wilson told the owner he'd just been released from jail for an incident on a bus. He then asked the owner what she was working on. According to a criminal complaint, at this point, Wilson pushed the owner onto a table and sexually assaulted her. The victim fought the attack "but was not in a position to do anything." Prosecutors say he threatened to kill her if she moved, telling her, "I have something in my backpack, and I will kill you with it."

The victim told Wilson to, "Please stop. Why are you doing this?" He responded by saying, "I have to. I have to," later adding, "It's just the way men are. It's rage. I have rage," according to prosecutors.

After the attack, prosecutors say he squirted hand sanitizer on the woman, apologizing and saying he had "needs and rage." He said he felt bad and wanted to come back and check up on the victim. She said no and was crying. She said he left with her clothing after she told him she wouldn't call the police, the complaint says.

"Specific things that he was saying to the crime victim about coming back for her, checking up on her, things that he did -- this was not by happenstance," said Captain Baumann.

The victim drove to the hospital after he left. 

Through their investigation, police looked into arrests associated with Metro Transit and recent jail releases, and Wilson was identified. He was found to have left jail with the same clothing worn during the bus incident and during the attack of the downtown Waukesha business owner, the complaint says.

Prosecutors say the victim identified him as her attacker through a photo lineup. 

Captain Baumann said it was thanks to the victim that they were able to arrest Wilson less than 24 hours after the attack.

"She fought for herself," said Captain Baumann. "She's the hero in this. She identified specific writing on the clothing he was wearing," said Captain Baumann. "He just got released from jail, and to know how quickly he reoffended was a grave concern to us."

Investigators allege Wilson claimed the attack was "consensual" and that the victim was "flirting with him." He made his initial appearance in court Tuesday, Feb. 28. Cash bond was set at $2 million.

In a statement Tuesday, Waukesha police offered more information about how they were able to identify and arrest Wilson:

"Upon receiving the information, we utilized all available resources to locate this unknown suspect.  City of Waukesha Dispatchers and investigators scoured the Opti Cop cameras, Body Worn Cameras and prior incidents with potential suspects matching that description.  Specific details offered to us by the crime victim led us to a person of interest that we were able match those details from prior law enforcement contacts. 

Due to the potential threat the suspect posed to the public an exigent circumstance ping on the suspects phone was placed.  We were able to locate the suspect in another jurisdiction.  We leveraged our partnerships with these agencies, and they were able to locate the suspect in short order.  This was an all-hands-on deck investigation that did not stop until the suspect was located. 

We leveraged all the City of Waukesha’s investments in training and technology.  We utilized our long-standing partnerships with outside agencies and above all we never left the side of the crime victim until the suspect was brought into custody. 

To note, this is a predator and clearly warranted the significant response from the Waukesha Police Department.  To our officer and investigators who tirelessly worked on this investigation, we thank you.  Their number one focus was the advocation of the crime victim."