A U.S. Army recruiter from the Greeley-Evans area was in jail Tuesday after his arrest on allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman he was trying to enlist, Fort Morgan authorities said.
The family contacted the Army right after the alleged assault, but it took Army officials more than a week to call back the family and tell them to go to civilian authorities, police said.
Army Sgt. Louis Chapa, 27, was arrested on Feb. 14 and booked into Morgan County Jail where he remained Tuesday on $150,000 bail, Sheriff James Crone said.
The arrest stems from an incident involving a woman in her 20s who said Chapa sexually assaulted her at her home on Feb. 3, Crone said.
“The family notified the Army on the 5th, thinking that because it was Army personnel that (it) had to go through military,” Crone said. “On the 14th, the Army notified them that they needed to call civilian law enforcement.”
Army Maj. Charles Mocilac, chief executive of the Denver Recruiting Battalion, would not comment about the allegations or why it took nine days to inform local authorities.
Mocilac said the Army takes “these allegations seriously” and is cooperating with local authorities.
Crone said the Army has turned over information and documents as part of the investigation. Investigators still are searching for witnesses, he said.
The victim was going through the recruitment process, Crone said. Investigators were trying to determine why Chapa would have visited her at her home. “We’re still in the process of trying to find out, but there was some kind of a social interaction that led up to the assault,” Crone said.
Although local authorities were not notified immediately, the woman did seek medical attention after the alleged attack, the sheriff said.
Crone declined to say whether a weapon was used. Mocilac said Chapa, if released from jail, would be suspended from recruiting duties and relegated to administrative work pending the results of the police investigation.
Chapa has been in the Army for three years and was assigned to a tank crew in Germany before being assigned to the Greeley area recruitment office, located in Evans, six months ago, Mocilac said.
Chapa is scheduled to appear in court March 14.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
