Bloomington police arrest man for rape, threatening to kill woman
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Bloomington Police Department officers on Tuesday arrested a man for raping and threatening to kill a woman, according to the Bloomington Police Department in a news release Wednesday.
At 5:50 a.m. Sunday, a woman contacted the Bloomington Police Department to report that she had just been sexually assaulted by an unknown man. Officers met with the woman, and she reported that she had been attacked from behind while walking near the roundabout on West 17th Street and forced into a nearby ditch, where she was assaulted.
The woman advised officers that she had walked to a gas station at the intersection of West 17th Street and College Avenue to get a drink. While walking back westbound along West 17th Street, the suspect grabbed her and forced her to the ground. She reported that the suspect was armed with a box cutter and told her multiple times that he was going to kill her. She further reported that she attempted to call 911, but the suspect took her cellphone from her.
Officers noted that the woman’s clothing was covered with mud and grass, bruising was visible on her arms, and she had a cut on her neck. The woman was taken to an area hospital for evidence collection by a sexual assault nurse examiner. Officers found the woman’s cellphone and other evidence at the location described by the woman.
Investigators reviewed nearby surveillance camera footage and identified a vehicle that was believed to be operated by the suspect before and after the assault. Identifying characteristics of the vehicle could be seen in the footage, but the license plate was not visible. Flock license plate readers in the area captured pictures of the rear of the suspect vehicle around the time of the assault and provided investigators with a license plate number.
The registered owner of the vehicle matched the description of the suspected provided by the woman.
On Tuesday, investigators located the suspect’s vehicle in the 1200 block of North Maple Street and began surveilling it. At 1:19 p.m. Tuesday, investigators observed a man entering the vehicle and driving away. The vehicle was stopped by officers in the 1300 block of West Third Street, and the driver was taken into custody without incident.
The driver identified himself as Rodrigo Perez Curiel. Curiel was taken to the Bloomington Police Department for an interview. His vehicle was impounded for further processing.
At the conclusion of the interview, Curiel was taken to the Monroe County Jail to be remanded to jail custody. While in the sallyport of the jail awaiting transfer to jail custody, an overhead door was opened and Curiel ran out of the sallyport while still handcuffed. Officers caught Curiel and tackled him to the ground in the 400 block of North Morton Street near Bloomington City Hall.
Curiel was taken back to the Monroe County Jail and preliminarily charged with rape (while armed with a deadly weapon/threatening the use of deadly force), escape, and resisting law enforcement.
