SAN IGNACIO–Eric Giovanni Gonzalez, 31, a salesman of the Duck Run 1 area in Spanish Lookout, Cayo District, was remanded to the Belize Central Prison, on a charge of rape by the San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court last Thursday, October 30.

Police charged Gonzalez with rape on Tuesday, October 28, after he was identified by a woman, 20, as the man who raped her on the morning of June 9 in his car in a track off the George Price Highway, in the area of Rumors Resort, Cayo District.

The woman reported to police that on Monday morning, June 9, she went to the junction of Joseph Andrews Drive and Bullet Tree Road in San Ignacio Town to get a taxi to go home, and got into a car that was parked at the taxi stand.

The Hispanic driver drove toward the direction of her address, but shortly after, he diverted into a track on the left side of the highway near Rumors Resort, without her permission, the woman said.

The woman told police that the driver drove a short distance down the road, stopped, locked the doors of the car, and then proceeded to rape her.

After the ordeal, he abandoned her in the area, and drove away, the woman reported.

Five months after hunting for the alleged rapist, the police were notified that he had been spotted on Tuesday at the Welcome Center in San Ignacio, in the same car. He was quickly picked up and taken into custody, and the vehicle impounded.

The man, identified as Eric Giovanni Gonzalez, was taken to the San Ignacio Police Station, where he was arrested and charged with rape. He was then taken to court, where he was arraigned on the offense by San Ignacio Magistrate Narda Morgan, who remanded him until his next court appearance, on December 30.