Man charged with sexually assaulting woman at Las Vegas motel
A woman who went into a central Las Vegas motel room to borrow a man’s cellphone charger Wednesday morning told police she was repeatedly choked by the man, then sexually assaulted.
Las Vegas police said they’ve arrested Jamareo Boyd, 36, of Las Vegas, on suspicion of sex assault, first-degree kidnapping and battery by strangulation in the attack at the Motel 6, 195 E. Tropicana Ave., at 7:45 a.m.
The woman told police she traveled to Las Vegas July 26 with plans to stay on the Las Vegas Strip. However, shortly after she arrived, she said all her belongings, including her identification and credit cards, were stolen, preventing her from checking in to a hotel. She told police she “has been wandering around ever since.”
Police said on Wednesday morning she was walking by the Motel 6 when she met a man who identified himself as “Jay.”
“He offered to let her charge her cellphone in his room,” police said.
Once inside the room, the man assaulted her, she said.
“She estimated he strangled her six to seven times,” police said.
At one point, the woman was able to get to the door in an attempt to escape, but her assailant dragged her back into the room.
“She knew she was going to die, and she wasn’t going to see her kids again,” police quoted the woman as saying.
A neighbor, hearing a commotion, then started pounding on the room door. The victim screamed and her assailant fled the room. Boyd was arrested near the motel based on his accuser’s description. He was arrested with the woman’s cellphone in his possession, police said.
Boyd acknowledged being in contact with the woman at the motel, but said the episode stemmed around the woman’s desire to buy drugs. He claimed that the woman gave him her cellphone in exchange for drugs, then she became angry when she felt she wasn’t given enough. He denied any sexual contact with the woman.
Police said Boyd currently has a separate felony case of attempted sexual assault filed against him in March in Las Vegas Justice Court. Boyd is scheduled to appear in Justice Court Tuesday morning for a 72-hearing on the most recent case.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.