Man Arrested for Attack on Woman

A man is under arrest and charged with assault after he allegedly tried to attack a woman in her Huckabee Mill Road home near Swansea while attempting to sell burglar alarm systems door-to-door, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said Rondell Demetric Martin, 28, of 3701 Cairnbrook Court, Columbia, turned himself in on Tuesday night at the county detention center on a charge of third-degree assault and battery. 

Martin was being held on Tuesday at the Detention Center while awaiting a bond hearing, Metts said. Martin is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing this morning. 

The arrest warrant alleges that at about 4 p.m. on Monday, Martin allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old woman after entering the woman’s home in his capacity as a door-to-door salesman for the Irmo office of Secure Watch, a company that sells ADT residential burglar alarm systems and other burglar alarm systems, Metts said.

After entering the home, the arrest warrant alleges that Martin hugged the woman, pushed the woman down on a bed in a bedroom and grabbed the woman’s legs, Metts said. The woman used her legs to push Martin away from her. The woman then ran out of the bedroom and reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Department.

Detectives later found Martin conducting door-to-door solicitations at other homes in the Swansea community and questioned Martin about the incident, Metts said. On Tuesday, detectives developed sufficient probable cause to obtain the arrest warrant for Martin.

Detectives did not find any evidence that Martin sexually assaulted or attempted to sexually assault the 19-year-old woman, Metts said. The motive for the assault on the woman remains under investigation.

At the time of the assault, Martin was wearing an ADT alarm system logo shirt and ADT alarm system logo baseball cap, Metts added.