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Prosecutors still searching for alleged Aspen rapist, fear he fled country

The District Attorney’s Office is continuing to try to locate a former local resident who allegedly raped a woman a year ago he met at an Aspen restaurant, according to a prosecutor and court documents.

The 32-year-old man apparently fled the country after police interviewed him and may be in his native country of Colombia, prosecutor Don Nottingham said. The Aspen Times is not releasing the man’s name at the request of the DA’s Office.

The assault allegedly occurred during the early-morning hours of April 22, 2017, after the man and woman had been out drinking with another man and woman in Aspen, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Pitkin County District Court.



The woman said she was having dinner with a female friend at the bar of a local Italian restaurant when she met the man and a friend, who were sitting next to them. The four began chatting, then headed to several other bars that night, where they drank shots, danced and played pool, the affidavit states.

The 32-year-old man told police he put the woman on a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus home toward the end of the night because she was “wasted,” according to the affidavit. However, on his way back to meet friends, he decided the woman was too drunk to fend for herself, so he hailed a taxi and told the driver to follow the bus.




The friends said the suspect told them at the time he had to make a phone call and disappeared, the affidavit states.

The man told police he followed the bus for a few stops, then entered the bus when it stopped for a prolonged period and found the driver attempting to wake up the woman. He said he took the woman to her apartment and they began kissing, then had sex, according to the affidavit.

The woman told police she thought the man was homosexual, wasn’t attracted to him and did not flirt with him that evening. She said she only remembered bits and pieces of the end of the night, the affidavit states. The next morning the woman said she was in a lot of pain and realized someone had sex with her.

The man is charged with felony sexual assault.

jauslander@aspentimes.com