Second suspect nabbed in Super 8 hotel party with liquor and drugs

A second suspect accused of raping a woman at the Super 8 Columbus Airport hotel pleaded not guilty to the charge during a Wednesday Recorder’s Court hearing.

Alex Brooks, 19, was taken into custody Sunday at the corner of Sherwood Avenue and 44th Street in Columbus. He joins 20-year-old Dalvin Lamar Hudgins, who was taken into custody on April 18 in the 3:50 a.m. assault at 2935 Warm Springs Road. Judge Mary Buckner ordered Brooks held without bond on the charge and bound the case over to Superior Court.

Detective Ron O’Neal of the Special Victims Unit at the Columbus Police Department said the assault came after a night of drinking Four Loko — a popular drink among young people — smoking marijuana and popping the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. There also were three pistols in the room where most of the victim’s friends started to leave the hotel early that morning.

The victim said she had fallen asleep around 3:50 a.m. after having consensual sex in the room earlier that night. She awoke with the suspect on top of her. She ran from the room with a towel, a sheet and her cellphone to the clerk’s office. The victim was allowed in the office, but the clerk didn’t allow the suspect inside because there were guns in the room.

Video surveillance showed the victim leaving the room at 3:59 a.m. Brooks was dressed when left the room and appeared as though he had forgotten something, O’Neal said. The suspect tried to talk to the victim but wasn’t allowed in the office.

Four days after the assault, police said the woman recorded a cellphone call from the suspect about Facebook posts on the incident at the Super 8. She asked, “Did you rape me? I was asleep,” O’Neal told the court. And the suspect responded, “How could you be asleep? You were moaning.”

The woman also talked about being taken advantage of with Xanax, drinks and marijuana.

Brooks, who didn’t testify, was represented by Opelika, Ala., defense attorney Barbara Agricola. She asked O’Neal if he had read the Facebook posts.

Hudgins was represented by defense attorney Stacey Jackson during his hearing. Hudgins also was ordered held without bond in the assault and the case sent to Superior Court.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Second suspect nabbed in Super 8 hotel party with liquor and drugs."