Phoenix woman identifies Sonoran cop as rapist

Associated Press
Jan. 25, 2002 11:30:00

TUCSON - Traveling in an armored car and accompanied by a U.S. official, a Phoenix woman went to a Mexican border town to identify a police officer she is accusing of sexually assaulting her.


Mexican investigators are awaiting physical evidence before they pursue an arrest warrant.

The woman feared going across the border to accuse police officers so the American Consulate took her to the Jan. 17 interview in Nogales, Mexico, in an armored car, said Steven Chan, the American vice consul in Nogales. A consular officer accompanied her for the daylong visit.

While there, the 36-year-old woman identified the local police supervisor she accuses of the Dec. 22 assault, said Javier Dueas Mercado, the Mexican prosecutor leading the investigation.

The woman also identified five other officers she says participated in her detention that day, the Arizona Daily Star reported Friday.