AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Travis County judge raised the bond Tuesday for a man accused in an alleged 2022 sex assault. The man is now charged with criminal trespass in a second case, and sex assault and aggravated kidnapping in a third.
Police first arrested Dublas Vasquez in November of last year in connection with a sexual assault near downtown Austin’s Sixth Street in June.
The Austin Police Department said the case took so long, in part, due to “many unique characteristics and challenges to investigating these offenses that are not typically seen in other crimes. This incident involved an unknown suspect, which caused a considerable amount of time and effort to identify the suspect.”
In court Tuesday, the suspect’s attorney Jorge Vela repeatedly questioned the credibility of that investigation citing, in part, discrepancies that arose during the alleged victim’s conversations with police.
According to the affidavit for that arrest, investigators also linked Vasquez’s car to an incident at Barton Creek Square Mall on June 14, 10 days after the alleged rape on Sixth Street, involving a different woman. Police said she made a report saying a man got into her car while she was in the parking lot and demanded sexual favors. Defense attorney Vela argued that Vasquez did not do anything violent in this case and it happened in a public place, so it shouldn’t constitute trespassing.
Police said in court Tuesday the victim couldn’t initially pick Vasquez out of a lineup due to a haircut, which slowed the investigation. He was eventually charged about a year later with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
Court records show Vasquez was released on bond in the 2022 downtown sex assault case with a GPS monitor after his bond was reduced from $250,000 to $100,000. He was under a curfew as part of those bond conditions and could only be away from home from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to a pretrial services coordinator who spoke in court Tuesday.
The below list breaks down a timeline of Vasquez’s arrests – and alleged actions – based on court records and proceedings:
- June 4, 2022: Alleged sex assault downtown
- June 8, 2022: Police pull Vasquez over near UT campus after a woman reported he was following her. Vasquez’s defense said he was driving for Uber Eats and was lost.
- June 14, 2022: Vasquez allegedly gets into woman’s car at Barton Creek Mall, demanding sexual favors
- November 2022: Police arrest Vasquez in 2022 sex assault case
- March 27, 2023: Victim tells police Vasquez sexually assaulted her on this date while at his home. Sex Crimes Unit officer investigating the case said in court Vasquez was under GPS monitoring at this time.
- July 2023: Police charge Vasquez with misdemeanor in Barton Creek Mall case
- Sept 2, 2023: APD officer responds to calls from “several” women at Pease Park during daylight hours reporting a man following them and trying to get them to take him to their car or their home. The officer said in court that when he arrived, he saw Vasquez chasing a woman, and the woman screaming, so he stopped Vasquez. The officer said Vasquez threatened him. Vasquez was arrested for Obstruction and Retaliation. The suspect’s attorney said in court there wasn’t enough evidence to support Vasquez was chasing women around.
- Sept. 25, 2023: Police arrest Vasquez in the March 27 alleged sex assault. Vasquez goes back to jail, and a judge increases his bond on the 2022 charge, and issues a $150,000 bond for the March 27 incident.
One of the defense’s primary arguments throughout the bond hearing was that the state did not have the grounds to call Vasquez a danger to the community because of how long it took to arrest him.
At Tuesday’s bond hearing, prosecutors requested revocation of Vasquez’ bond.
A judge ultimately upped the bond for the June 2022 charge and issued a $170,000 bond for the new charges.
Vasquez is set for a pretrial conference next month.