Printable VersionLake Havasu City Police Department arrested 21-year-old Justin D. Laidlaw Thursday and charged him with alleged assault in regard to an incident that occurred Monday in Rotary Community Park.
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According to the police report, Laidlaw followed the three females from the area of Kokomo as they were walking southbound along the mainland south Bridgewater Channel walkway. The three ladies stopped at a bench to do push ups hoping he would pass them by. He stopped and watched them, asked if they were tired and what they were doing there.
The women began walking toward their cars, which were parked south of the restrooms near the children’s playground.
Laidlaw allegedly grabbed one of the females around the waist in an attempt to tackle her. The two other women tried to get him off of her and he then grabbed one of the intervening women by her wrists. At one point he let go of the woman’s wrists and again attempted to go after the first woman he had targeted. Reports said the woman he attempted to tackle was pregnant.
According to reports, Laidlaw said he didn’t care. He got in their face and asked the women what they were going to do about it, reports said.
He fled when the women called 911.
During police investigations, the women reported they first noticed Laidlaw near the Aquatic Center where the walkway encircles the ball fields, according to earlier reports.
On Wednesday morning, about 7:30 a.m., a female jogger called 911 to report a suspicious man who was following her in the area of El Dorado Avenue and Cisco Drive, about four blocks south of Lake Havasu High School, according to earlier reports.
Further police investigations determined Laidlaw was the suspicious man who followed the female jogger.
“The Lake Havasu City Police Department thanks residents for their efforts at finding this suspect,” said Police Chief Dan Doyle in a prepared statement. “This is a great example of how an informed public can assist the police department to bring offenders to justice.”
According to a Nixle.com alert issued Thursday evening, police were able to make the arrest after following a tip received by a citizen.
Laidlaw is currently a registered Level 3 sex offender, who was convicted of child molestation after assaulting a minor in 2005 in Mohave County, according to the Lake Havasu City Police Department Sex Offender website. In 2006, Laidlaw was arrested for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and served 2.5 years in Arizona Department of Corrections. He currently resides at 2720 McCulloch Blvd., #4, according to the website.
For more information about registered sex offenders living in Havasu visit www.lhcpd.com and follow the sex offender link on the left.
You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.
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