Charges: Woman punched kidnapper accused of attacking several people near UW A 21-year-old man is believed to have followed, assaulted and sometimes kidnapped a series of women in the U-District

Sean Reilly, 21, is accused of attacking five women during four separate episodes near the University District's Greek Row in July and August.

Sean Reilly, 21, is accused of attacking five women during four separate episodes near the University District's Greek Row in July and August. Photo: GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 41 Caption Close Charges: Woman punched kidnapper accused of attacking several people near UW 1 / 41 Back to Gallery

When a 19-year-old woman found herself in Ravenna Park in late July, ordered at gunpoint to walk there by a young man who took her cell phone and led her to a mattress in the woods, she told him she would rather be shot than raped, police reports say.

The man told her, "You'll get over it," and "It won't break you," court records indicate. She dared him to shoot her.

He grabbed the woman by the throat with one hand and clocked her on the side of her head with the gun until she punched him, knocking his baseball cap and glasses off his head. She took that opening to run for her life.

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Prosecutors say the kidnapper is 21-year-old Sean Reilly, who matches the physical description given by five women who were at minimum robbed or assaulted in the University District near Reilly's home and, in two instances, forced to walk to nearby Ravenna Park threatened with what turned out to be a pellet gun.

Reilly is charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and second-degree assault in connection with the spree that allegedly occurred between July 27 and Aug. 26. He was arrested Aug. 28 while he was on a Tinder date.

The first incident happened to the woman who punched her attacker in Ravenna Park. She was walking home, headed north on 18th Avenue Northeast about 12:10 a.m. when a man approached her from behind, displaying what appeared to be a small black handgun and demanding her cell phone.

She gave him the cell phone, but he ordered her to walk until they reached a mattress located in a secluded patch of brush at Ravenna Park, about 10 to 12 blocks away. After she punched him, she discarded her backpack while running away and flagged a passing vehicle to summon police, according to the incident report.

In turned out Reilly lived across an alley from the woman in the U-District, police wrote.

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The second reported incident occurred about 11:49 p.m. Aug. 7. A 21-year-old woman was walking east on Northeast 47th Street. After passing 21st Avenue Northeast, a man wrapped his arm around her neck and she heard a "clicking sound" and an object pressing into her back. The man demanded her wallet and cell phone, Seattle police reported.

The woman said, "No" and spun around to face the man, at which point she saw his gun. She screamed and the man pistol whipped her three times before she escaped to a nearby fraternity house.

The next episode happened about 1:53 p.m. Aug. 11. Two women were standing on 17th Avenue Northeast just south of Northeast 52nd Street. A man identified as Reilly walked by them, then turned around and punched one woman in the left ear and the other in the mouth. The woman hit in the mouth fell to the ground and hit her head, causing a concussion and bruised ribs.

Reilly headed north, but the other alleged victim ran after him. In the 5000 block of 18th Avenue Northeast, Reilly stopped and punched the pursuing woman in the mouth, prompting her to fall to the ground. She also suffered a concussion and injuries to her head and face.

The final known incident occurred about 10:50 p.m. Aug. 26. A 19-year-old woman was walking from one fraternity house to her brother's fraternity house on Northeast 47th Street. As she approached 21st Avenue Northeast, a man approached her from behind with what looked to be a black handgun and demanded the woman's cell phone, which she gave to him.

He also ordered her to take him to a nearby ATM to withdraw cash from her bank account, but she claimed she didn't have an ATM card, according to Seattle police.

He then forced her to walk to Ravenna Park about 10 blocks away and threatened to break her jaw if she didn't obey. After they reached the park, the woman's cell phone received a text message from her brother asking why she hadn't arrived and indicated he had a tracking app to see that she was at the park, reports indicate. The man saw the message, gave the phone back to the woman and walked away.

Each of the victims gave a similar suspect description. While investigating a report of gunshots fired early the morning of Aug. 18, University of Washington police officers found Reilly, who appeared to match the suspect sketches related to the series of attacks, court documents say.

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The woman from the final assault later pointed to a photo of Reilly from a montage to identify her attacker.

A Seattle police SWAT unit stopped Reilly early the morning of Aug. 28 at Northeast 50th Street and University Way Northeast and arrested him while he was driving his Tinder date.

A search of Reilly's bedroom yielded a backpack matching the victims' description containing a black semi-automatic pellet handgun, duct tape, a disposable camera, zip ties and scissors. They also recovered several items of clothing matching the women's accounts.

Prosecutors charged Reilly with with two counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of second-degree assault among two separate cases. He remains jailed on $750,000 bail.

SeattlePI reporter Lynsi Burton can be reached at 206-448-8381 or lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI. Find more from Lynsi here.