ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — A 45-year-old Ashtabula Township man was arrested Sunday for allegedly raping a 42-year-old Ashtabula woman early that morning.
Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department deputies picked the suspect up at his home on an outstanding warrant for unauthorized use of a vehicle after the victim named him as the person who raped her.
The suspect allegedly attacked the victim, who was a friend, and forced her down on a mattress and raped her. The victim eventually was able to grab ahold of a 40-ounce beer bottle and hit the suspect over the head, according to reports.
Deputies were dispatched to Speedway on Route 20 for report of a naked female covered in blood just after 4:30 a.m. The victim told deputies she used to work with the suspect at the Ashtabula Mall in 1995.
She moved out of town and eventually came back to Ashtabula. She ran into the suspect in August at a drug store and would occasionally speak to him, according to reports.
The suspect allegedly called the victim Sunday between 7 and 7:30 p.m., asking her to come to his house to discuss some things.
When the victim arrived at his home, the suspect was there with his friend. The three began drinking and listening to music. When the victim excused herself to use the bathroom, the suspect reportedly would not let her go upstairs alone, according to reports.
After awhile, the victim excused herself again to use the restroom, at which time the suspect reportedly became angry and began yelling at her. She reportedly sat on a box spring in the spare bedroom to avoid him, reports show.
The suspect then reportedly came upstairs and made the victim return downstairs and kicked his friend out of the house. The victim told deputies, the suspect became irate when his friend’s mother called the house looking for her son. He then began calling the victim profane names saying, “...You’re going to give it up,” according to reports.
The victim said she believes the suspect hit her face, then grabbed her hair and forced her to the floor on top of a mattress where he took off her clothes. He then allegedly pinned her to the floor, holding her hands above her head saying he would “kill her if she said anything to anyone and she would never see her grandchildren,” the report states.
When the victim was finally able to get away, she grabbed a top and some other clothing and ran naked into the street yelling to oncoming traffic for help. At least two cars drove around her on Route 20 as she fled to Speedway where she called 911. The victim told deputies she had consensual sex with the suspect a couple of times, the last time being last month, but he never acted like this and Sunday’s events were strictly against her will, according to reports.
Deputies obtained a search warrant for the suspects home and retrieved a pair of women’s jeans, a 40-ounce beer bottle, two pieces of a broken pink cell phone, a white bra, a knife and hammer found next to the mattress, a pair of eyeglasses with suspected blood on them, a swab of blood from the living room carpet, a pillow, a bed sheet, one pair of female underpants, the victim’s tennis shoes and a cutting of the mattress, according to reports.
The suspect faces charges of rape, kidnapping and assault as well as the active warrant for unauthorized use of a vehicle, deputies said. He remained in Ashtabula County Jail Monday.
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