The 26-year-old man accused of raping a woman last week on a deserted Denver International Airport concourse will face a Class 3 felony charge of sexual assault, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said Tuesday.
Noel Bertrand, a one-time Marine from Portland, Ore., remains in custody at the Denver Dentention Center on $50,000 bail.
Two Frontier Airlines mechanics say they interrupted Bertrand early on April 12 as he was raping and beating a 22-year-old woman near a gate at Concourse A.
The woman, who at the time was stranded at the airport overnight after missing her flight, has since made it to her intended destination: An Illinois convent, according to her father.
The woman told reporters that airport employees saw the attack but did nothing to stop it, a claim DIA officials said they had not found evidence to support. A DIA surveillance video shown Tuesday night on News4 and 7News showed a woman seen pushing a cart past the alleged attack, which is obscured by an awning. A few minutes later, a man getting on a moving walkway stops, looks at the gate and continues. Two people then walk toward the gate and one waves at a police officer on a bicycle. DIA officials said the workers were following proper procedures by notifying security.
The woman’s father said he wasn’t sure whether the family intends to pursue a lawsuit against the airport. Jessica Fender, The Denver Post
