Woman asked for apartment lock repair before stranger assaulted her, Texas suit says
A Texas woman was sexually assaulted after a man silently entered her apartment at night, and now she’s suing, according to court documents.
The attack happened in December 2022 at the Menlo at Mueller Apartments in Austin, according to a lawsuit filed April 24 in Travis County. The woman, referred to as “M.K.” in the suit, was asleep when a stranger crept into her bed and assaulted her.
She was one of several victims of a man later identified as Octavio Contreras-Guzman, who was arrested by Austin police and is accused of carrying out a series of break-ins and attempted sexual assaults, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
The intruder entered the apartment through an unlocked sliding door — which was only unlocked because the lock was broken, according to the lawsuit.
M.K. had repeatedly spoken with apartment complex staff about the broken lock, requesting that it be fixed for more than a year, documents said.
The night of the attack, M.K. was asleep in bed “when she suddenly awoke to a strange man in bed with her rubbing her vaginal area,” the suit said. She was “terrified” but began kicking, pushing and yelling at the man.
After a “brief struggle,” the intruder ran from the apartment, escaping out the sliding back door which he had left open, according to the lawsuit. A roommate heard her screams and dialed 911.
“With no signs of forced entry, the police asked (M.K) and her roommate how the intruder got inside their apartment. The young women explained that the lock on the back sliding glass door was broken, despite their repeated requests for management to repair it,” the suit read.
The lawsuit names two companies as defendants, Clear Property Management, and Avela Real Estate Partners. McClatchy News reached out to both for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
According to the lawsuit, a repairman was sent on multiple occasions but the lock was never fixed. At one point, management told M.K. she should buy and install a security bar on the door as an alternative to a functioning lock. But this recommendation was a violation of Texas law, which requires the landlord to be responsible for purchase and installation of such devices, the suit said.
The suit is seeking financial damages for M.K., who “has suffered severe mental anguish, emotional distress, and psychological trauma,” her attorney’s said, adding that she is “currently in therapy to manage her symptoms related to this incident, including, but not limited to, panic attacks, nightmares, anxiety, intense fear, and paranoia.”
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