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Rape suspect arrested after attack on woman who asked man for a ride

Updated September 2, 2021 - 5:25 pm

Las Vegas police say they’ve arrested a rapist who attacked a woman after offering her a ride Sunday in east Las Vegas.

Jorge Riveron Clemente, 51, of Las Vegas, was booked at the Clark County Detention Center Monday on charges of sex assault and first-degree kidnapping.

A Metropolitan Police Department arrest report for Clemente states a homeless woman told officers she was at a gas station in the 3700 block of South Nellis Boulevard just after midnight when a silver or gray pickup pulled up to her. The woman asked the male driver for a ride to Boulder Highway where she planned to meet her ex-boyfriend. Police said the male driver of the truck did not speak English, but he agreed to give her a ride after using an app on his phone to communicate with the woman.

The woman said she was instead driven to a residential area and raped.

The woman told police that as the man was starting to assault her, she attempted to call her ex-boyfriend, causing her to leave a voice mail on his phone. Police listened to the brief voice mail recording that recorded the woman saying “dude, stop,” followed by “STOP!” on the recording, police said in the report.

Afterward, she said the man drove her to the area of Boulder Highway and Indios Avenue and dropped her off.

Police said they then used the woman’s cell phone to track her location at the time of the assault. Police went to the neighborhood in question and obtained video surveillance from a home that showed a pickup park in the neighborhood. The video also recorded images of someone “violently struggling from the front passenger seat of the truck,” police said.

Police canvassed the neighborhood as well, leading them to Clemente in a truck that police said belonged to the assailant. Clemente communicated to them using a translation app on his phone.

Police said the accuser then picked Clemente out of a lineup.

Clemente, a native of Cuba, declined to speak with detectives. He was expected to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court Friday morning for a status check on whether prosecutors will pursue charges.

Police also said in Clemente’s arrest report that they learned that another woman had reported to police around the same time Sunday that she was the victim of an attempted kidnapping. This woman told police a man had approached her in a gray or silver pickup on Boulder Highway, using an app on his phone to solicit the woman for sex in exchange for money.

“(She) refused, which angered the man who then attempted to pull (her) into his vehicle by her shirt,” police said. “The suspect was unsuccessful, and he drove off.”

No arrests have been made in the attempted kidnapping.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.

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