PHOENIX — A 40-year-old man was arrested this week for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Scottsdale last month.
Robert Starr was arrested at his Phoenix home on Tuesday on one count of kidnapping with the intent to kill, physically injure or sexually assault the victim and one count of sexual assault.
According to court documents, Starr met the victim May 22 when he was in Scottsdale with his dog.
While the woman was petting his dog, Starr told her he recognized her from earlier in the night when she was at a bar with her friend. The pair agreed to grab a drink at a bar less than two miles away, with Starr driving them there in his Jeep.
After they had a drink, Starr and the woman decided the bar was too empty and they would go somewhere else.
The woman told police that Starr suddenly turned into an underground parking garage off Scottsdale Road and, when she asked where they were going, he allegedly smacked her across the face and said, "Shut up (expletive)."
Court documents detailed a graphic assault at the hands of Starr, who allegedly pulled the woman out of his car by her hair and slammed her head against a concrete pillar.
The woman told police that she tried to elbow Starr and get away from him, but he pushed her head back into the driver seat, lifted her dress and sexually assaulted her.
The woman said she continued to tell him to stop and that she would call the police afterward. Starr got back in the car and drove out of the parking garage.
She went into a nearby restaurant around 7 p.m. that night to report the assault, telling police that she never talked about sex or had any physical contact with Starr and that her intent was to just get a drink with him.
Detectives obtained surveillance video and evidence at the scene, including the victim's hair pins, lip liner shavings and a clump of hair matted against the concrete pillar, to back up the sexual assault claim. The victim also had bruises on her thighs and chest and her dress and feet were very dirty.
An unidentified bar employee told detectives that the man in the surveillance video was Starr and investigators confirmed that he owned a Golden Retriever and a dark-colored Jeep.
The woman picked Starr from a photo lineup, saying she was not completely sure but "that he most resembled the suspect."
Starr was arrested after officers took swabs of his Jeep and linked him to the parking garage where the alleged assault occurred through location data on his phone.
Starr said he did not recall seeing or hearing an assault, but admitted that he had a drinking problem and said he did not remember anything he did while he was drunk.
He also told police that if he had hurt someone he was sorry.
Starr was held on a cash-only bond of $500,000 and is expected to appear in court next on June 26.