PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the brutal beating and sexual assault of a woman in a Phoenix alleyway last month.
Luis Gustavo Prudente Tapia, 24, was arrested late last week on multiple felony charges, including attempted second-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and four counts of aggravated assault.
Luis Gustavo Prudente Tapia, 24, is accused in a violent attack and sexual assault of a woman in a Phoenix alleyway.(Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
WARNING: Graphic details ahead — discretion advised
Just after 4 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14, Phoenix police officers were called to the area of 44th Street and Oak Street after a 911 caller reported hearing a woman screaming. Police arrived in the area and followed a blood trail that led them to a severely injured woman lying on the ground, wearing only a shirt. Documents say she was aspirating on her own blood and unable to speak with first responders.
Fire crews arrived and took the woman to the hospital in critical condition, where she was placed in the intensive care unit. Medical staff determined she had facial fractures, spinal fractures, two broken ribs, a swollen neck and other injuries on her back and hip. Doctors also discovered genital injuries.
“I can just say that in my time investigating with the department, this was severe,” Lt. Casey Tornberg with Phoenix PD’s Adult Sex Crimes Unit said during a news conference earlier this month.
Police said previously that the woman had been walking in the area when she was attacked, which investigators believe was random.
At the crime scene, detectives recovered two used condoms, a pair of men’s shorts and a single slide-type sandal. Investigators also found blood in multiple locations, including evidence that the victim had been dragged.
Earlier this month, detectives canvassed area apartments looking for witnesses or residents with surveillance video that could help identify a suspect.
A few days later, a woman called detectives on behalf of a man she’s friends with, who shares an apartment with three other men near the crime scene. She told investigators that her friend came to her house one day, saying he couldn’t sleep because of what “Gustavo did” the night before.
According to court documents, the man said he was sleeping when his two other roommates came into his room because they could hear Gustavo making noise in the alley behind the residence. They went outside and called Gustavo’s name, saying he then stopped what he was doing, got on his bike and rode back around to the front of the apartment.
The witness reported seeing a “big lump” on the ground, like a person, but said he didn’t want to get involved. Per documents, the roommates went back inside and saw Gustavo, who told them he had just gotten into a fight with three men.
Detectives were then able to identify Tapia as a suspect, and they spoke with his roommates. Police later surveilled and arrested Tapia.
During an interview with detectives, Tapia reportedly told them that he had approached a woman and offered her $100 to have sex. According to documents, he told investigators that the woman initially took the money, but then “got mad” and threw it back at him.
He then reportedly admitted to having sex with the woman against her will, then hitting her up to 10 times, kicking her in the back and jumping on her. Documents say he refused to submit to a DNA test before he was booked into jail.
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