Police: Woman beaten with pistol after refusing to take clothes off

A Cape Girardeau man is facing multiple felony charges after police said he beat a woman with a pistol and stole her backpack early Wednesday morning.

Cape Girardeau police arrested Charles D. Demolle, 32, and the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged him with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, resisting arrest and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. All are felonies.

Police responded to the 700 block of South West End Boulevard about 1:45 a.m. Wednesday to find the victim, who claimed she'd been assaulted by a man in a gold SUV, according to a probable-cause statement filed by patrolman Anthony Vezeau.

The victim told police she was walking along Jefferson Avenue when the man stopped and offered her a ride, which she accepted, according to the statement.

Cape Girardeau Police Department public-information officer Sgt. Adam Glueck said Thursday the victim did not know her assailant before getting into the vehicle.

Once inside the vehicle, the victim said she asked the man for some cigarettes, which he gave her, Vezeau wrote.

The man then ordered the victim to remove her clothes and hand over a backpack she was carrying, Vezeau wrote.

When she refused, the man "struck her several times in the face and head" with a black handgun, according to the statement.

The victim then jumped from the moving vehicle, leaving behind a pair of sunglasses and her backpack containing a tablet and clothing, Vezeau wrote.

The victim was bleeding from her mouth and had several injuries on her face when police arrived, according to the statement.

Officers found a gold 2005 Ford Explorer in the 900 block of College Street and identified a suspect matching the victim's description of her assailant who was fleeing on Benton Street, according to probable-cause statements.

The suspect, identified as Demolle, was apprehended at the 800 block of Morgan Oak Street, according to a probable-cause statement filed by patrolman Nelson Tillman. Police found two plastic bags inside "a red plastic heart-shaped container" in Demolle's pocket, Tillman wrote. One bag contained 0.001 grams of a white, rocklike substance that later tested positive for cocaine, and the other contained two blue pills later identified as Alprazolam -- also known as Xanax -- according to the statement.

Police found blood on Demolle's hand and, in searching the gold SUV, found a black revolver, women's sunglasses and cigarettes that matched the victim's account of the incident, Vezeau wrote.

Police were unable to locate the victim's backpack, according to the statement.

Glueck said Demolle remains in custody with a $75,000 cash-only bond, with the condition he have no contact with the victim and stay at least 500 feet from her residence and place of employment.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573)388-3627

Pertinent address:

700 block of South West End Boulevard, Cape Girardeau, Mo.