FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office deputies say a Houston park employee put his life on the line to stop a rape.
It happened at Cullinan Park on Highway 6 near the Sugar Land Airport. The park is owned and operated by the city of Houston, but is located in Fort Bend County.
The park is closed at 9 p.m. every night, but it was well after that when a city park ranger on patrol spotted the suspect sexually assaulting a woman and intervened. He stopped the attack but ended up in the hospital as a result.
It was about 3 a.m. Monday when park ranger Conrad Wilturner drove through on patrol and immediately spotted a car in the parking lot. Inside that car, police say, a man was sexually assaulting a woman.
The victim was too injured to talk to Local 2 on camera, but a family spokesperson said she was forced into the back seat of a car and sexually assaulted for hours. Her face and body are bruised and battered.
She knew her attacker, they said.
Sheriff's deputies identify the man as 25-year-old Miguel Velasquez. When Wilturner stepped in to stop the attack, they say Velazquez attacked him with a steel pipe, beating him on his face and head.
Velasquez fled, leaving the woman behind. Both she and Wilturner were hospitalized.
Velasquez was arrested a few hours after the incident in the 7200 block of Clarewood. He's been charged with sexual assault and aggravated assault of a public servant. He is being held on a total bond of $750,000.
The park ranger is still hospitalized at Memorial Hermann Hospital. He'll have to undergo a series of reconstructive surgeries.
The victim's spokesperson said if it wasn't for the park ranger who intervened she may not have survived. They are thankful and hope to meet him in person one day.