Patton Township Man Charged in Reported Invasion, Assault

UPDATED @ 7:10 p.m. May 20: Ryan Ho has been linked to at least 18 other incidents in Centre County, the county district attorney’s office has announced. We’ve posted a new report on this page. Earlier coverage and updates are below.

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UPDATED @ 12:13 p.m. May 20: Additional charges are pending against Ryan Ho, 33, already accused in an Oakwood Avenue indecent assault, Patton Township police Chief John Petrick said. We’ve posted an updated report on this page.

Earlier coverage is posted below.

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Earlier report, posted @ 9:40 a.m. May 20:

A Patton Township man admitted Thursday to breaking into an Oakwood Avenue residence and assaulting a woman inside, according to a criminal complaint.

The man, Ryan Ho, 33, of Vairo Boulevard, has been charged with burglary, criminal trespass, indecent assault, simple assault, loitering and related offenses. He was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Daniel Hoffman and jailed in the Centre County Correctional Facility, where he remained Friday morning as he awaits a preliminary hearing.

According to the complaint, signed by Patton Township and State College police detectives, a man later identified as Ho broke into a residence around 2:30 a.m. Thursday on Oakwood Avenue.

Ho reportedly burst into a woman’s bedroom, grabbed her indecently and threw her to the floor, according to the complaint.

The woman told police that the man was naked except for a black ski mask covering his face, the complaint shows. He assaulted her, then fled the residence through a back door, it says. The woman quickly dialed 911.

She struggled against her attacker and was not raped, police information shows.

A Ferguson Township police officer soon noticed a man walking nearby, according to the complaint. The officer ‘noticed that the male was winded and his hair was unkempt, as if he had been wearing a hat,’ it reads. ‘The male also had black paint on his neck visible around the collar area of his shirt.’

The man, later identified as Ho, also was carrying a screwdriver, latex gloves, knit gloves and a black ski mask, according to the complaint.

Police took Ho into custody and interviewed him. He admitted to being ‘involved in this incident’ and had watched the woman on Oakwood Avenue before breaking into her residence, according to the complaint.

It says Ho fled the residence after the victim ‘continued to scream for help.’

Local officials are looking into whether Ho may be connected to a months-long string of indecent-exposure incidents elsewhere in the Centre Region, StateCollege.com has learned.

StateCollege.com will post additional information as it becomes available.

Earlier coverage

• Indecent Exposures Reported in Patton Township (March 12, 2011)