Englewood man charged with rape
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

By MAYA KREMEN
STAFF WRITER


ENGLEWOOD -- An illegal immigrant has been charged with raping a woman on the living room couch of the apartment he shared with his mother, girlfriend and their son.

The 23-year-old woman had accompanied Harold Mendoza and his girlfriend on Friday night to the Blueside Grill, an upscale Englewood bar. After a few drinks, the three went back to the couple's Humphrey Street apartment around midnight, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

An hour later, Mendoza left the bedroom he shared with his girlfriend to forcibly have sex with the sleeping victim, the prosecutor charges. When his girlfriend tried to intervene, he hit her in the face, they said.

The two women reported the incident to Englewood police, and were treated at Englewood Hospital and released. Mendoza's girlfriend had bruises on her face, arms and legs, but was not seriously injured, authorities said.

Mendoza, 24, was arrested Saturday on charges of domestic violence, sexual assault and simple assault. He is being held in the Bergen County Jail on $109,000 bail.

The Department of Homeland Security was also notified because of Mendoza's residency status.

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