By Guy Leonard, County Times
HOLLYWOOD, Md. (July 17, 2008)—A man suspected of being an illegal immigrant has been charged with seconddegree rape and second-degree assault in an alleged attack that occurred in the late night hours of July 12, sheriff’s deputies reported.
Investigators with the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigations allege that Alvaro Dominguez, 24, a Guatemalan national, raped a female victim after witnessing a gathering at the victim’s home in Lexington Park, which he reportedly tried to join.
Detectives allege that Dominguez, who they said had no fixed address, entered into the victim’s bedroom as she lay sleeping and raped her there.
The victim tried to fight off Dominguez’s alleged assault, charging papers filed in District Court by Detective Charles F. Earle state, and she called for help.
Charging documents state that several witnesses saw the defendant flee the residence following the victim’s cries for help.
Witnesses at the gathering chased Dominguez to a nearby residence when police arrived to make contact with the victim and continue their investigation, charging documents reveal.
Police began a search of the residence and, according to charging documents, found Dominguez hiding under a bed in a back room of the house. Witnesses claimed that Dominguez was the man they saw fleeing the residence where the alleged assault took place, charging documents state.
Detectives found scratch marks on the defendant’s chest and stomach areas after they arrested him and detained him at the Sheriff’s Office, court papers reveal. The scratches found on Dominguez seemed to match the description of defensive wounds the victim told police she had inflicted on her alleged attacker.
Dominguez refused to cooperate with investigators, charging documents state.
This is the second incident in recent weeks where a suspected illegal immigrant has been charged with a major crime.
On June 28, Eddi G. Barrientos-Ibanez was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol after a vehicle crash on Route 235 and Bay Forest Road in Dameron.
Police say Ibanez was the driver of the vehicle in which two people were killed and two others injured.
Police charging documents also state that sobriety tests revealed Ibanez had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood after the crash had occurred.
While Ibanez had an Immigration and Customs Enforcement warrant applied to him, Dominguez did not, according to Lt. Rick Burris commander of the Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
“We believe he’s only been in the country for about three weeks,” Burris said, adding that it was now known if this was Dominguez’s first time in the country.
Burris said that despite recent events illegal immigrants have not been a significant source of local crime.
“We haven’t seen a rash of crimes by illegal aliens,” Burris said. “But it’s a concern because communication barriers are significant during the investigation.”
If convicted, Dominguez could receive a 20-year prison sentence for the second-degree rape charge against him. The second-degree assault charge also carries a possible 10-year period of incarceration if Dominguez is found guilty.
Dominguez is currently incarcerated at the St. Mary’s County Adult Detention Center.