A Tempe man was arrested at the Arizona Grand Resort in south Phoenix on Monday afternoon in connection with an attempted rape of an employee in a restroom.
Before the attack, the victim told police she saw Michael Robert Martinez, 30, hanging out near the door to the restroom, which was located outside of the reservation office where she worked, in a separate building.
Martinez entered the bathroom as she was washing her hands, coming up from behind and pulling down her tights and underwear "to her boots," police wrote in a booking sheet.
The victim, also 30, says her attacker knocked her down, laying on top of her. She struggled against him, screaming for help. She managed to wrestle free and ran out the door.
If she hadn't have gotten away, "she was sure the suspect would have raped her," records state.
Her co-workers heard her cries and spotted Martinez "just standing there" as the victim ran back to her office. A security guard held him until police arrived.
Martinez is being held in the Maricopa County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping and sexual assault.
A message left with a receptionist at the resort, located near Baseline Road and 48th Street, hasn't yet been returned.
UPDATE -- Richard Behr, managing director of the Arizona Grand Resort, got back to us this afternoon with this e-mail:
One of our employees was assaulted on Monday afternoon by a person who was neither an employee nor a guest of the resort. Our security officers apprehended a suspect, who is now in police custody. Our primary concern is the well-being of our employee. We have a close working relationship with the Phoenix Police Department and are fully cooperating in their investigation. For the sake of the investigation and to safeguard our employees' privacy, we ask that all questions be directed to the Phoenix Police Department.
