A homeless man says he was looking for a place to sleep when he came upon an attempted rape and intervened early Tuesday.

Shortly before 3:30 a.m., Ketrell Ferguson, who is recently homeless, heard screams and noticed a struggle in the 3600 block of 16th Street NW. At first, he thought it was a robbery.

According to police, 23-year-old Alemen Gonzalo offered a woman money for sex, and when she refused, he allegedly tried to rape her behind a bus stop.

Ferguson said he has relatives who have been raped and he felt he had to do something. He picked up half a brick and a stick.

"As soon as he lifted his head up, I smacked him with the stick hard as I could in his head,” Ferguson said. “He fell off the lady, stumbled and I smacked him again and I just kept smacking him with the stick as hard as I could."

Police found the suspect not far away about 4:40 a.m. He was bleeding from his head.

"Even though I'm going through hard times, God put in me in a place where I could help,” Ferguson said. “I was at the right place at right time."

Gonzalo is charged with assault with the intent to commit first-degree sexual abuse.