Kenner police book 2 with rape
Visitor says she was held against her will Tuesday, July 15, 2008By Michelle Hunter
Kenner police have arrested two men on suspicion of raping an Austin, Texas, tourist who said she was held against her will for several hours, authorities said.

Elder Benedicto Vasquez-Lopez, 24, and Edgar Casasola-Torres, 27, of 3208 California Ave., Kenner, were booked Friday with aggravated rape with a weapon and false imprisonment while armed with a weapon, according to Detective Wayne McInnis.

The incident occurred June 8. McInnis said investigators who served a search warrant at the residence Thursday found evidence that supported the woman's account.



The woman, 29, was visiting New Orleans, according to arrest reports. She had been out with a friend earlier in the evening, but that person had left by the time she met three men at a New Orleans restaurant, McInnis said. The woman did not know the men.

The woman was "slightly intoxicated" and a diabetic, the report said. She told authorities she woke up in the back seat of a red Toyota sport utility vehicle with a gray interior. The woman said she was driven to a house later identified as 3208 California Ave. where one of the men threatened her with a serrated knife that had a white handle, the report said.

The woman said she was raped and held at the house for several hours. McInnis said investigators believe she was there about six hours.

The men eventually drove the woman back to New Orleans, the report said. It is unclear exactly when she contacted authorities, but McInnis said she called the New Orleans Police Department to report that she had been raped.

"There was some discrepancy about where it had occurred. She only knew the name of the street," McInnis said.

New Orleans detectives began driving the woman around until they were able to determine that she had been taken to Kenner.

"She was able to identify the house," McInnis said; Kenner police were notified of the case July 3.

On July 10, investigators executed a search warrant at California Avenue house, where Vasquez-Lopez and Casasola-Torres were identified as the residents, the arrest report said. They gave a statement to authorities saying they had consensual sex with the woman, according to McInnis. But he said, "There's some evidence that was found at the residence that led us to believe that it was not what they were claiming it to be."

During the search of the house, investigators found a serrated knife with a white handle and located a red sport utility vehicle with gray interior which belonged to Vasquez-Lopez, the arrest report said.

A third man who had been in the vehicle is not a suspect, McInnis said.

Vasquez-Lopez and Casasola-Torres are not eligible for bail because they entered the United State illegally from Guatemala, McInnis said. Immigration officials will order a detainer pending the outcome of the Kenner case.

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Michelle Hunter can be reached at mhunter@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7054.



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