Two women in Bloomington report attempted sexual assault by stranger on street

A Bloomington man was arrested and faces charges of attempted sexual assault and battery of two women in the area south of the Bryan Park neighborhood on Monday.

Manuel Lopez-Lopez, 37, faces two felony charges of attempted rape and criminal confinement and two misdemeanor charges of battery and public intoxication, according to filings with the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office.

Lopez-Lopez, who is identified in the court system as having multiple aliases, has multiple prior charges, including pending charges of public intoxication and resisting law enforcement, and a charge of battery resulting in bodily injury, to which he pleaded guilty in May.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the first woman, a 48-year-old, was walking down Woodlawn Avenue towards Hillside Drive on Monday evening when Lopez-Lopez allegedly crossed paths with her and immediately turned around and began following her. Lopez-Lopez allegedly continued following her as she turned two blocks, at which point the woman began repeatedly telling him to stop following her. The woman said Lopez-Lopez appeared to be “very intoxicated.”

Shortly after turning right onto South Huntington Drive, the woman said Lopez-Lopez grabbed her bag, and when she tried to pull away, Lopez-Lopez grabbed her and threw her into the tall grass just beyond Hillside Manors.

Lopez-Lopez reportedly held the woman down and put one of his arms across her face to muffle her. According to the probable cause affidavit, the woman felt he was “going to knock her tooth out with the pressure.” He allegedly then began attempting to pull off her shorts. The woman said she then began screaming for help and attempted to fight back by scratching his face, punching him and biting his forearm.

After approximately five minutes, two witnesses who had previously observed Lopez-Lopez following the woman but had lost sight of them reportedly saw Lopez-Lopez attacking the woman and intervened “enough to get Manuel to run away,” according to the affidavit.

While Bloomington police officers were conducting witness interviews with the woman and the two witnesses who intervened, patrol officers received a call from a woman on Miller Drive about a man who had approached her, making obscene gestures while telling her she looked good. The man, who matched the description of Lopez-Lopez, reportedly unzipped his pants and attempted to grab the woman before she fled and called the police.

BPD officers located a man who matched the victims' description at the entrance to Switchyard Park. Both women came to the scene and stated that Lopez-Lopez was their attacker. Lopez-Lopez had fresh scratch marks on his face and grass and dirt on his pants, police reported, consistent with the first woman’s account.

Lopez-Lopez “fully denied” involvement in either incident and said he was at Kroger at the time. He said a man at Kroger had scratched his face when asked why he had scratch marks. Throughout his interview with police, Lopez-Lopez “had very slurred speech and appeared very intoxicated.”

Lopez-Lopez was arrested and booked into Monroe County Jail around 9 p.m. A trial date is set for Sept. 5.

Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com.