A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman last weekend at a Durango motel.
The Durango Police Department posted to social media that officers received a suspicious 911 call around 2:20 a.m. Saturday and responded to the Super 8 Motel at 20 Stewart St. in Bodo Industrial Park.
Attempts to reach Cmdr. Ray Shupe were unsuccessful Tuesday.
Once officers arrived, they spotted a man and a woman emerge from behind the building. The woman appeared scared and reserved, Durango police said, and the man refused to speak to officers.
The man, later identified as Israel Estrada of Dallas, entered a hotel room and officers were unable to follow him inside. But once Estrada was gone, the woman started to speak with officers.
“She revealed that Estrada forcibly raped her,” Durango police said.
As it turns out, Durango police said, it was the woman who made the 911 during the incident, which triggered the police response.
“The victim had a cellphone in her possession during the rape and was able to make the call,” according to the police social media post.
Additional officers arrived at the motel and attempted to make contact with occupants in the room where a disturbance reportedly occurred. Two men inside the room said they were the only ones in the room, Durango police said.
Officers, believing Estrada entered the room and did not exit, conducted a consensual search and found Estrada hiding under a pile of blankets.
Estrada was initially arrested on suspicion of sex assault, a Class 3 felony. Throughout the incident, however, he gave false names, and was charged with criminal impersonation, a Class 6 felony.
Durango police said Estrada’s last known address is in Dallas, but that he was working on a construction job at the Tamarin Square Apartments in Durango. It is unclear how long he has been living in Durango.
After he was correctly identified, it was discovered he had outstanding felony warrants from Texas, and had previous convictions on charges of armed robbery and sex assault.
The woman, Durango police said, is 34 years old and from Albuquerque. Investigators say she and Estrada were “only briefly acquainted.”
“Through her courage and resourcefulness, she was able to summon help and assist police in bringing her attacker to justice,” Durango police posted.
Estrada was taken to the La Plata County Jail. It was unclear Tuesday whether he posted bail. He has a court hearing scheduled for Thursday.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
