Man convicted by jury for his 40-minute assault on a woman in a wheelchair | Law Enforcement Today

PORTLAND, OR - On Thursday, January 16th, a man was found guilty in Washington County for assaulting a homeless woman who was in a wheelchair after she declined taking money from him.

According to KGW8, surveillance video caught the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Timothy Paul Fitzgerald, kicking the woman in the face with his steel-toed boots. After the initial kick to the face, Fitzgerald continued to physically and sexually assault the woman in a more secluded area nearby for nearly 40 minutes. The woman testified at the hearing that she could not escape the horrific situation because she was confined to a wheelchair.

A Washington County jury found Fitzgerald guilty on 10 charges, including first-degree assault, second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree sodomy, three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree attempted rape, and first-degree unlawful sexual penetration. 

The attack happened back on October 13, 2023 when Fitzgerald approached the woman while she was sleeping on the sidewalk. Prosecutors said that attack was interrupted by a street sweeper who drove into the parking lot where the assault was taking place. Fitzgerald fled the area, but was located by police at the Beaverton Transit Center roughly 10 minutes later. 

KOMO News reported that during the trial, Alyssa Camp, the deputy district attorney on the case said, "Very fortunately there was a street sweeper that was assigned to work in the parking lot that they were in. It was a closed shopping center at the time, being after midnight. He had driven in to do his street sweeping duties that night and shown his headlights on where the assault was occurring. And Mr. Fitzgerald then abruptly left the scene."

Fitzgerald reportedly told police, at the time, that he did not remember anything that occurred after he offered the woman money. He then allowed investigators to swab his body for DNA, which linked him to the attack. Fitzgerald was also initially charged with a bias crime in the first degree, but during the trial the judge acquitted him of that charge, stating that a reasonable jury could not find that Fitzgerald targeted the woman because of her disability.

The Washington County District Attorney's Office commended the victim for her bravery in participating in the legal process and thanked the Beaverton Police Department and the Oregon State Police Forensic Laboratory for their work on the case. A sentence hearing has been set for March 17th. Fitzgerald will remain in custody pending sentencing. 

In a separate incident, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release that a 72-year-old man from Mercer Island, Washington was sentenced to 10 years of supervised release during which two years must be served as home incarceration for attempted sexual abuse of a minor in special aircraft jurisdiction and abusive sexual contact in special aircraft jurisdiction. 

The suspect, Munir Walji was convicted after a four-day jury trial in September 2024. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said Walji's conduct "called for a term of incarceration," however, due to the elderly man's extremely poor health he was not sentenced to prison. Lin said, "But for your medical conditions I would impose a prison sentence. But I am deeply concerned that a prison sentence would be a death sentence."

U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said, "This defendant unbuckled the seat belt of the teen sleeping next to him in the confines of an aircraft, and reached inside her pants, attempting to reach her genitals. This is shocking conduct that traumatized the victim and impacted her family. We will continue to prosecute these cases demonstrating our commitment to holding these perpetrators accountable."

According to court records, on November 10, 2021, Walji was seated in the aisle seat next to the 15-year-old victim on a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Seattle. The victim's mother was in the window seat. As the flight neared its arrival in Seattle, the victim felt a hand on her leg, waking her. She moved away from Walji and tried to go back to sleep, but the touching became more aggressive with Walji rubbing her thigh, and then unbuckling her seat belt and reaching inside the waistband of her pants and underwear. The victim said something causing Walji to stop.

The flight attendants responded to the row when the mother pushed the call button. They moved the mother and victim to a different row and police were notified. Walji was arrested upon arrival in Seattle. Part of his sentencing also includes a $5,000 find and Walji must register as a sex offender.