A Gary man was charged Monday after drunkenly crashing into a gate around 4 a.m. near the federal courthouse in Hammond, documents allege.
Manuel Sotelo, 39, is charged with operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic offender, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction within seven years, and two misdemeanors.
Hammond Police responded July 15 to 5400 Federal Plaza.
At the crash site, Sotelo appeared to be sleeping in a Chevrolet Silverado with his pants and underwear pulled down. The officer told him to get dressed.
He said he just got out of jail and claimed he was working as a driver for a food delivery app. He told the officer he had two drinks.
When the officer asked where he was, Sotelo thought he was in Gary.
He got “combative” at the police station, the affidavit states.
“They better not put their (expletive) hands on me, that’s all I gotta (expletive) say,” he said, later adding, “You don’t know who the (expletive) I am!”
Records show Sotelo was charged in October with three counts of rape, one count of criminal confinement, dissemination of matter harmful to minors and sexual battery.
The victim told a Lake County Special Victims Unit investigator that she drank two shots in a group with Sotelo, then took a shower, because she didn’t want to go to school smelling like alcohol.
After she responded she was in the shower, he came into the bathroom naked, refusing to leave. The girl froze. Sotelo repeatedly bit, then sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit.
He posted bond in March.
