WASHINGTON — A D.C. man was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison after police say in January he beat his wife while holding her captive in a U-Haul storage unit, and raped her days later in a D.C. motel room.
The 49-year-old defendant, whose name was not released to protect the privacy of the victim, was sentenced Friday to a total of 33 years and four months in jail after police say he raped, kidnapped and beat his wife.
Officials say the D.C. man and his wife — both of whom are homeless — spent the night of Jan. 12, 2017, in a small U-Haul storage locker she was renting at a facility in the 2200 block of Fifth Street NE. A fight led the defendant to “brutally” beat his wife, according to details released by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He kept her locked up in the storage unit for the rest of the night, forbidding her to be seen by others.
On Jan. 15, the pair was staying at a hotel in the 1600 block of New York Avenue NE when the defendant again “became enraged” and raped his wife, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Also, he hit her in the head with the TV remote until he broke it, the office said.
He left the room to speak with the front desk about replacing the remote, which allowed the victim to escape and run to a nearby D.C. police station. Officials say badly bruised, she fled the room wearing just underwear, shoes and a winter coat.
“Veteran police officers, one of whom had patrolled the streets for over two decades, were shocked at the degree of the victim’s injuries: her eyes were extremely bloodshot and swollen almost shut, her nose was broken, and her body was badly bruised,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a news release.
Police arrested the defendant in the hotel room later that day.
In June, a jury found the D.C. man guilty of kidnapping while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, first-degree sexual abuse and assault.
When he gets out of prison, he will be placed on five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
