Court: Man denies rape attempt near First Avenue

A 51-year-old man who allegedly attempted to rape a woman in front of two Columbus police officers Saturday evening appeared in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

George Odonnell, the accused, pleaded not guilty Monday morning to one count of attempted rape. He was ordered held in the Muscogee County Jail, and his case was bound over to Superior Court.

Officer Joedave Roberson said he and another officer were called to an apartment less than a mile away from First Avenue around 6:30 p.m. to a reported domestic disturbance. He was searching for the apartment unit when he heard a woman’s screams coming from the residence.

Roberson said he saw a topless woman lying on the floor inside the doorway, pinned between the wall and door. She appeared to be struggling with an unarmed man later identified as Odonnell, police testified.

“She was seen swinging and thrashing around the floor and, again, heard yelling stop,” said Roberson, who also noted that the victim had butter knife in her right hand. “She said, ‘He’s raping me.’”

Police then forced their way into the apartment, where they saw Odonnell on top of the woman with his hands on the waistband of her pants. Officers apprehended him without further incident.

The victim said she was visiting Odonnell at the residence when the two got into an argument. He asked her for sex but she declined, she told the court.

She said Odonnell, who knew she was wanted on probation violation warrant, called 9-1-1 and told them of her whereabouts but Roberson said he wasn’t sure who called police to the area.

“At this point, he attacker her, pushed her down to the ground and tore her shirt and bra off her body,” Roberson said. “She stated that at at some point Mr. Odonnell brandished a butcher knife that we were not able to locate once ID came to the scene.”

She said she was able to locate small butter knife to fend him off. No serious injuries were reported.

Odonnell told the court that he was trying to hold the woman down, because Georgia Probation instructed him to do so until police arrived. He said the woman was fully clothed during the entire visit.

Roberson said the defendant never gave an explanation as to why he was tugging on the woman’s pants when they arrived on the scene.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 8:20 AM with the headline "Court: Man denies rape attempt near First Avenue."