A 22-year-old woman interested in becoming a bartender was invited early morning April 23 by a bartender to the American Legion where, according to an arrest warrant, she was given alcohol until she was “falling down drunk” and coerced into performing oral sex on the stage of the dance hall before blacking out.
Jeffery Rey Gallegos, 45, and his cousin Joseph Robert Toledo, 25, who is accused of acting as an accomplice, were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and placed in La Plata County jail each on a $250,000 bail.
Magistrate Sarah Law on Monday refused a request to lower their bail to $60,000. Both men were described by the men’s public defender as Durango natives with family members present in the courtroom.
According to the arrest affidavit, the victim and Gallegos said they originally met at Orio’s Roadhouse around 1 a.m. April 23. Gallegos told her he could get her a job at the American Legion, and invited her to the post so she could demonstrate that she could make drinks and show him whether she could be a “good bartender.”
On arriving at the American Legion, they made multiple drinks, and, according to the affidavit, video footage shows the woman became so intoxicated she began to hold onto the bar for stability with both hands, at which point Gallegos put his arm around her and began to fondle her.
Toledo was also videotaped putting two pieces of Scotch tape on the camera to obstruct the lens of the camera in the bar, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states, Gallegos and Toledo are then suspected of carrying the victim – who was unable to walk on her own, at one point stumbling and falling to her knees – to the stage area, where the victim apparently performed oral sex on Gallegos repeatedly before blacking out.
The woman did not want to participate, but she feared Gallegos would hurt her if she did not cooperate, the affidavit states. According to the affidavit, Gallegos also said he gave oral sex on the stage.
Police, in the affidavit, state that no reasonable person would take advantage of someone in a “physically helpless and incapable” state, constituting sexual assault.
Hours later at 8:30 a.m. April 23, the woman’s blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.15 by the Durango Police Department.
jhaug@durangoherald.com
