Arapahoe County – Accused serial rapist Brent J. Brents was bound over for trial Monday in Arapahoe County on charges that he beat, choked and raped a woman before stealing money from her.
It’s a pattern similar to several Denver cases in which Brents is a suspect.
Aurora police officer Ricardo Hargrove, who interviewed the woman at a hospital shortly after the Feb. 4 attack, said Brents surprised the victim as she unlocked her front door, pushing her inside and throwing her to the floor.
The victim told police Brents threatened her with rape, punched her in the face and then carried out his threat, according to court testimony Monday.
The victim called 911 shortly after the assault in her townhome on South Nome Street, two blocks north of East Alameda Avenue.
During an interview with Denver police after his Feb. 18 arrest in Glenwood Springs, Brents told Denver investigators that he raped and beat a woman in an assault at a home just off East Alameda Avenue in Aurora.
The victim, however, failed to identify Brents as her attacker in a photo lineup just two days before his arrest.
On Feb. 16, Aurora police Detective Woodbury Burgess even pointed to Brents’ photo and told the victim that Brents was the suspect in a series of rapes and assaults in Denver. She still declined to identify Brents as her attacker.
After the arrest, however, the victim changed her mind and said she was “almost 100 percent sure” Brents is her attacker, Burgess said.
Defense attorney Carrie Thompson asked County Judge Christine Chauche to dismiss the charges against Brents, in part, because of the Aurora photo lineup.
Chauche declined, citing the detailed physical description the victim gave police and Brents’ own admissions.
Brents’ next Arapahoe court appearance in this case was set for June 27.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
