Campground security officer discovers rape in progress-holds suspect at gunpoint
Montrose Jan 25 2021 A campground security guard who responded to screams coming from a camp trailer Monday found a woman pinned beneath a man there and held him at gunpoint.
Jeffrey A. Salazar was subsequently arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and third-degree assault. Formal charges are due Feb. 4.
The Montrose Daily Press’ initial understanding from police was that the good Samaritan was an acquaintance of the reported victim. An arrest affidavit made available Thursday stated the person who intervened was the security guard.
Police were summoned to the campground Monday night on reports of a domestic disturbance. When they arrived, they found the security guard holding Salazar at gunpoint.
When commanded, the security guard put his hands up and stepped outside, telling officers he had left his gun on the table inside the trailer. Police found the gun in the residence and signs of a struggle.
Although initially restrained in handcuffs, the security guard was soon released and is not going to be charged with an offense, Salazar’s affidavit states.
The security guard informed police officers that he and his girlfriend heard screams coming from the woman’s trailer. He grabbed his flashlight and gun and ran over, where he found a woman underneath a man, half-clothed.
He ordered Salazar to “back off” and get on the ground, but said when he tried to restrain Salazar, the suspect “tried to wrestle him off and tried to push him out the door.”
The guard said he’d drawn his weapon because he feared for his life and also said Salazar “looked like he was trying to rape her,” per the affidavit.
Salazar declined to speak to officers without an attorney.
The distraught woman identified Salazar as a friend and said she had invited him over that night because she wanted company, but he became aggressive and would not leave.
The woman’s face was scraped with some swelling, officers noted, but she initially said she had fallen in the gravel. Both her and Salazar appeared to officers to be intoxicated.
“I (said) there were witnesses to what had happened to her and she did not need to cover for him. (Woman) stated ‘He’s not a bad person,’” officer Jace Cline wrote in the affidavit.
According to what Cline wrote, the woman went on to explain she’d met Salazar in June and although they were friends, their relationship was not romantic. Salazar “had been infatuated with her,” she reportedly told Cline.
To nip this in the bud, the woman told Salazar she had a boyfriend.
On Monday, she had invited both men to her home for dinner, but her boyfriend had to leave early. She shared one simple kiss with Salazar and didn’t want any further contact — but he did, per the affidavit’s allegations.
“(Woman) then stated ‘I’ve been raped before.’ I asked if Jeff made it that far tonight. (She) stated no, but only because she kicked him,” Cline wrote.
The woman told a female deputy who arrived to assist that she kept squeezing her legs together to prevent rape, the affidavit also says. She began screaming when Salazar did not desist and continued being aggressive, the document further alleges.
When asked again about the incident, the woman said “I don’t think he had sex with me. He was trying to have sex with me but I don’t think we had sex,” Cline wrote.
The woman was taken to the hospital for an examination and other medical clearance.
Montrose Press
