Clown mask-wearing suspect tried to kidnap an 8-year-old from her Colorado bedroom, cops say

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A 56-year-old man is facing charges after police say he attempted to kidnap a child from her Sterling, Colorado home while wearing a clown mask.

Thomas Gallegos is under arrest and facing charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, second-degree attempted kidnapping, third-degree assault and child abuse, local outlet KKTV reports.

He broke into the child’s home on October 15 while wearing a cloth clown mask, according to the Sterling Police Department. Police say Gallegos then went into the eight-year-old girl’s bedroom and blindfolded her, CBS News Colorado reports.

After she fought back, he hit her in the head and tried to choke her, police said, before fleeing the scene with her phone.

The girl was treated for cuts and bruises afterward but wasn’t seriously injured, per CBS News.

“Digital, forensic and physical” evidence helped police identify and arrest Gallegos on October 19 after a four-day-long search, according to CBS News. This included location data from the girl’s phone and security footage.

The girl’s mother also told investigators that Gallegos lived in their neighborhood and was at their house the previous weekend to help install a washer and dryer, local outlet KUSA reports.

Gallegos told police he was in Denver at the time of the break-in, according to the affidavit reviewed by NBC News.

"We explained that we just wanted the truth, Thomas said that he was done talking," investigators wrote in the document.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation will also be testing DNA found on a clown mask and pair of gloves left at the scene.