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Emma Sapong

St. Paul Days Inn housekeeper charged with raping guest

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A St. Paul hotel employee raped a female guest in the bathroom while her 9-month-old was in the room last Saturday, prosecutors said.

Nolasco Lopez Ramirez, 25, of St. Paul, who was head of housekeeping at the Days Inn at 1964 University Ave., was charged Monday with one count of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office. He's being held on a $100,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint, Lopez Ramirez gained entry into the guest's room around 4:20 p.m. after stating he was there to "check out the room." After making the bed, he told the 22-year-old woman other hotel guests had complained about loud noises. Lopez Ramirez then began moving unusually close to the woman.

She became uncomfortable and told him to back up. To get him to leave, she went to grab dirty towels from the bathroom to give to Lopez Ramirez. But he followed her, closed the bathroom door and began making sexual advances, which were rebuffed by the woman. She struggled to get out and told him to stop but Lopez Ramirez raped her, according to the criminal complaint.

The hotel worker left after the victim threatened to scream louder. Shortly afterward, the woman allegedly identified Lopez Ramirez as the man who raped her to three maids standing outside her room. Police apprehended him and the victim again identified him as her attacker.

An employee told investigators Lopez Ramirez ordered his crew not to clean the victim's room because he would do it.

Lopez Ramirez told police he stayed beyond his shift because the hotel was busy and that he had been drinking that afternoon and didn't know if he'd forcibly had sex with a guest. Officers who arrested him did not notice a smell of alcohol coming from him or behavior that would suggest intoxication.

Lopez Ramirez is scheduled to appear in Ramsey County District Court Tuesday.

Editor's note (April 26, 2016): The headline on this story has been updated to clarify the location of the alleged rape. According to charges, it happened at a Days Inn hotel on St. Paul's University Avenue.