SOUTH BEND — A woman told police she was confined and sexually assaulted in a motel room Monday night by a man claiming he was a security guard.

St. Joseph County police were dispatched on a disturbance call to the Motel 6 at 53624 Indiana 933, north of Roseland, about 11 p.m. An officer arrived to find a woman crying and screaming hysterically.

The 27-year-old Niles woman, who had bruises on her face and a swollen lip, told police she had been in her room when an unknown man knocked on the door and said he worked as security for the motel.

Police say the woman opened the door and asked to see identification, but was pushed back into the room by the man.

The man began to ransack the room, but grabbed the woman as she tried to leave and forced her into a bathroom, where he threatened to kill her. The woman told police she was somehow locked in the bathroom and unable to leave.

The woman told police she thought the man then left the room for an unknown amount of time, before coming back and dragging her to the room’s bed.

There, police say, the man again threatened to kill the woman and then forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The man then began to take off the woman’s clothes while fondling her. The woman said she began fighting off the man, who then hit her several times in the face before leaving.

Sgt. Bill Redman, St. Joseph County police spokesman, said officers observed the woman’s ransacked hotel room and found the phone had been dismantled.

Redman said police were later able to identify a possible suspect and that the investigation was turned over to the St. Joseph County Family Violence/Special Victims Unit. There have been no arrests made in the case.

Staff writer Dave Stephens :
dstephens@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6209