asaltar

To assault, mug, or raid — used for street crime (asaltar a un transeúnte), storming a place (asaltar un banco), and figuratively for something that suddenly overtakes you, like a thought or fear (le asaltó la duda). It's also standard vocabulary for a coup or violent power grab (asaltar el poder).

• Dos hombres asaltaron la tienda de la esquina. — Two men robbed the corner store.
• De pronto la asaltó una duda terrible. — Suddenly a terrible doubt overtook her.
• Los golpistas intentaron asaltar el poder por la fuerza. — The coup plotters tried to seize power by force.

Missing the figurative sense with emotions and thoughts — le asaltó el miedo doesn't mean fear literally attacked someone, it means fear suddenly overcame them; learners who only know the "mugging" sense misread these sentences.

• politics Asaltar el poder — "Asaltar el poder" / "asalto al poder" is standard Spanish-language political vocabulary for an illegal or violent seizure of state power — used across Spanish-language political science and journalism as a near-synonym for golpe de Estado (coup d'état).