Illegal Mexican immigrants accused of raping local woman

Justin D. Anderson:

Two men who claimed to be illegal immigrants working at the Wal-Mart construction site in the north part of the city were charged Saturday with sexually assaulting a woman for over an hour in the suspects' room at the Plaza Motel.

Francisco Aguilar, 29, and Martin Ramos Cuevas, 38, were arraigned on one count each of second degree sexual assault by Marshall County Magistrate William D. Anderson on Saturday. Bond was set at $25,000 per man. Cuevas posted bond and was released from the Northern Regional Jail. Aguilar remained lodged there today.

Preliminary hearings have not been set. Both suspects listed addresses of Room 23 at the Plaza Motel located at 1402 Lafayette Ave.

City police declined to comment on the incident this morning. According to the criminal complaint filed by city police Patrolman Steven P. Kosek, officers responded to the motel at around 4:40 a.m. Saturday on a call of a disturbance. Officers had responded to the motel about an hour earlier on a call of a man banging on a door to one of the rooms.

When officers arrived, they met with a man and his wife. The wife said she was raped by "two Mexicans" in Room 23.

Officers went to the room and spoke with Aguilar, Cuevas and another man. None of the men were fluent in English, but Aguilar was able to tell officers "that they worked at the Wal-Mart site" and "were in this country illegally."

Aguilar further told officers "that there were some girls looking for drugs at their room earlier."

All those involved were taken to headquarters, where the alleged victim completed a written statement. In it, she said she was at the Guest House Bar dancing with an "older-looking Mexican on and off all evening." Near closing time at the establishment, the woman said the man grabbed her by the arm, "said something in Spanish" and led her up to Room 23.

When the two entered the room, the woman told officers she saw a second, younger male and decided to leave. At this point, the older male allegedly pushed her onto the bed, and he and the younger man began to sexually assault her while she kicked and screamed. According to the report, one of the men used a plastic garbage bag as a condom.

At some point, the woman said she was allowed to go to the restroom, and the men tried to follow her. While all of this was going on, the woman said she could hear someone knocking on the door. The woman said that when she came out of the bathroom, the men tried to push her onto the bed again, but she was able to put on her clothing and called her husband by cellular telephone to tell him she had been raped.

The woman later identified the suspects by photographs. A translator was called in to collect the suspects' personal information, the report stated.

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