MARTINEZ — A Pittsburg man has been charged with three felonies within the tried rape Oct. 6 of a lady in an elevator on the Walnut Creek BART station, prosecutors stated Thursday.
Richard Lee McDowell, 35, was charged with tried rape by drive, kidnapping for theft or sexual functions, and assault with intent to commit a felony, stated Ted Asregadoo, a spokesman with the Contra Costa County District Legal professional’s Workplace.
McDowell, who has been in custody since his arrest Saturday, was being held on the Martinez Detention Facility in lieu of $1,150,000 bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Superior Court docket.
The alleged assault occurred shortly earlier than midnight on Oct. 6.
Authorities stated McDowell and the sufferer, a 20-year-old Daly Metropolis resident, had been on the identical BART practice certain for San Francisco when the practice stopped on the station. The girl exited onto the platform and the suspect adopted her. Authorities have stated the 2 didn't know one another.
Nobody else was on the platform when the suspect allegedly grabbed the girl and compelled her into an elevator, the place the 2 struggled, the district legal professional’s workplace stated. BART officers stated earlier that the suspect tried to take the girl’s pants off.
At one level the girl was in a position to activate the emergency alarm within the elevator. The suspect fled earlier than BART police reached the station.
Utilizing video surveillance photos and an outline of the suspect, BART police put out alerts concerning the suspect. He was arrested Saturday morning within the parking zone of the North Harmony BART Station by a BART police sergeant.
Workers author Rick Hurd contributed to this report.