ST. GEORGE, Utah — Police at Utah Tech University say they have arrested a suspect in connection to three sexual assault reports on campus. Police have confirmed the suspect is not a student at the school.
Alex Gabriel Barajas, 22, was arrested and held without bail on three separate alleged counts of rape and burglary, two counts of lewdness and one count of criminal trespass.
Court documents state Barajas, a prior Utah Tech student, was not currently enrolled at the university and did not live at the apartment complex when he began checking the entrance doors to almost all 16 apartments at 2:30 a.m. before entering a floor only for female students and raped a 17-year-old and attempted to rape two other students.
The three incidents all occurred in 45 minutes.
According to the department, they were first called to the area of Campus View Suites 1 at 3:00 a.m. Friday on reports of an attempted sexual assault. When they arrived they were told about a second attempted assault in the same building.
Officers secured the building and have remained there following the reports. The university released a statement saying, "The Utah Tech Police Department, with the help of the St. George Police Department, apprehended the suspect in connection to sexual assault reports on campus. Upon receiving reports, UTPD secured the building, sent a safety notice to alert campus and narrowed the investigation to a single male suspect, all leading to the apprehension."
Anyone with additional information about the assaults is asked to call the police at 435-627-4300.
FOX 13 News has reached out for more information and will update this article when we learn more.
