An anonymous tip led police yesterday to a man accused of the kidnapping and rape of a woman whose car had broken down at night in Kalihi.

Police arrested Ricky N.L. Albano who they allege offered to help the 44-year-old woman whose car had overheated but instead forced her into his car and sexually assaulted her.

Responding to a police sketch of the suspect and a description of his vehicle, someone contacted CrimeStoppers about the 45-year-old convicted felon, police said. The tip included the suspect's exact location.

Albano — who has nine criminal convictions for offenses including felony robbery, petty theft and drunken driving — was arrested at 1 p.m. yesterday on Gulick Street on suspicion of seven criminal counts, including first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping.

"We'd like to thank the CrimeStoppers caller and the community for calling in immediately with a description of the guy," said Sgt. Kim Buffett, Police Department CrimeStoppers coordinator.

Officers from the District 5 Crime Reduction Unit, patrol officers and HPD sex crimes detectives found and apprehended Albano, whose criminal record includes 64 arrests, police said.

"We couldn't have done this without the community," said Honolulu police Maj. Kurt B. Kendro, head of HPD's Kalihi operations. "How many times do you see this, an arrest made within 24 hours of an event occurring? This is directly related to the community getting involved."

Police issued a warning following the Wednesday night attack that women should be wary whenever they have car trouble at night. However, they also stressed that such attacks are extremely rare in Honolulu.

Police allege Albano drove up to the woman, whose car was parked with its hood up on Pu'uhale Road near Homerule Street, at about 7:30 p.m.

When the woman refused his offer to help, Albano drove away, police said.

But he returned a few minutes later and allegedly grabbed the woman from behind as she stood outside the vehicle inspecting the vehicle's engine, police said.

Police said he forced her into his car, drove her to Hart Street and sexually assaulted her.

The woman fought back and escaped, police said. She later gave a description of the suspect to police, who on Thursday released a composite sketch.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.