Affidavit: Man who offered roadside help accused of kidnapping, assaulting woman
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was arrested last week after he was accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman who was waiting on the side of the road for roadside assistance, according to a Travis County affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Reynaldo Tapia-Arcibar, 31, faces a charge of aggravated kidnapping/sexual abuse, according to court documents and jail records.
KXAN reached out to the attorney listed to represent Tapia-Arcibar for a statement on his behalf. This story will be updated when we receive a response.
The charge stems from an incident that happened in east Austin on Ed Bluestein Boulevard the early morning hours of May 16, when a woman reported to Austin Police Department officers that she had been kidnapped and assaulted.
According to the affidavit, the woman had a tire blowout shortly after 1:30 a.m. and called roadside assistance. After waiting for over an hour, a white SUV approached, and a Hispanic man in the driver’s seat — later identified as Tapia-Arcibar — got out and approached the victim’s vehicle.
Tapia-Arcibar told the victim he’d help her and told her to sit in the passenger side of his vehicle, according to the affidavit. The victim told police she believed he was working for roadside assistance. The affidavit said Tapia-Arcibar told the victim he’d take her to get a new tire and shut the door quickly, then he began driving her to an unknown location.
According to the affidavit, the victim insisted she needed to get back to her vehicle and asked Tapia-Arcibar to take her back. The victim texted a friend her location at 3:18 a.m. and asked for help, the affidavit noted.
The victim said she couldn’t open the door and after about five minutes of driving, Tapia-Arcibar pulled into a parking spot at an apartment complex and assaulted her, according to the affidavit. The victim began trying to call 911 and was able to shove Tapia-Arcibar away and get out of the vehicle and began running through the apartment complex yelling for help, the affidavit said.
Police responded to the area around 3:35 a.m., and Tapia-Arcibar was gone by the time they got there. However, a detective later saw him and the SUV at the apartment complex. According to the affidavit, the SUV is registered to his name at the apartment complex, and police were able to visually identify him through a prior booking photo and apartment staff helped identify him as well.
Tapia-Arcibar was booked into the Travis County Jail on May 16 on a $50,000 bond and charged with aggravated kidnapping/sexual abuse, according to jail records.
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