ELKTON — Police officers arrested a man inside his Elkton residence early Sunday morning shortly after he allegedly barged into a nearby home and raped a woman who lives there — before fleeing when another occupant caught him in the act, according to Cecil County District Court records.
Investigators identified the suspect as 36-year-old Obet Perez-Roblero, whom responding Elkton Police Department officers captured after finding him hiding inside a second-room bathroom at his residence in the Delancy Village neighborhood and forcing their way into the room, court records show.
EPD officers rushed to the alleged victim’s residence at 5:07 a.m. Sunday after receiving a complaint regarding a home invasion and a related rape, police reported.
A woman who also lives at that residence told investigators that she walked down stairs to the first floor early Sunday morning and noticed that the front door was open, which she considered to be unusual, police said.
When she entered the room to check the door, she saw Perez-Roblero sexually assaulting the alleged victim on the couch while holding her hands above her head, pinning her to the furniture, according to the charging document. The housemate told investigators that the alleged victim was “crying and distraught” during the incident, court records show.
The housemate who caught Perez-Roblero in the act told investigators that the suspect “left his underwear and his belt in the room when he fled,” court records allege.
“The residents . . informed officers that (Perez-Roblero) had no reason to be inside the residence. The front door of the residence had no signs of forced entry, but the residents advised they have an issue with the front door of the residence, which prevents the door from fully and properly securing,” according to court records.
Lt. Ronald Odom, an EPD detective who also serves as an agency spokesman, alleged that Perez-Roblero entered that residence, encountered the woman — who was sleeping on the downstairs couch — and then “proceeded to physically and sexually assault the female until being interrupted by another resident of the home.”
After the interruption, Perez-Roblero fled from the home and ran to his residence across the street, Odom reported.
During the investigation, EPD detectives secured video gleaned from a security camera at a house near the victim’s residence, police said. That footage showed Perez-Roblero exit the victim’s residence and walk to his residence, police added.
EPD officers escorted the alleged rape victim and her two female housemates to ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital in Elkton for evaluation, according to court records.
After officers arrested Perez-Roblero, the alleged victim and the eyewitness identified him as the suspect, court records show. The shirt that Perez-Roblero was wearing when officers arrested him matched the description of the shirt given by witnesses, according to court records.
Perez-Roblero is facing seven criminal charges, including first-degree rape, home invasion, third-degree burglary and second-degree assault, court records show.
He remained in the Cecil County Detention Center on no bond Monday night, awaiting a bail review hearing, according to court records.
The investigation is ongoing, and EPD Det. Joshua Blackson is the lead investigator, Odom reported. Anyone with information that might help in this investigation is asked to call Blackson at 410-398-4200, ext. 7069, or email him at jblackson@elktonpd.org.
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