A former Arkansas Department of Correction guard surrendered Friday after authorities said he followed a woman home from a Little Rock bar and raped her.
Colin Toatley, 23, was arrested and charged with rape and terroristic threatening. He was taken to the Pulaski County jail, where he remained in lieu of a $150,000 bond.
Pulaski County sheriff ’s deputies developed Toatley as a suspect through DNA evidence and the log of customers entering the bar, according to an affidavit.
On Oct. 17, Pulaski County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on Smalling Road on a reported rape.
The 23-year-old victim told authorities she and a friend went to Midtown Billiards at 1316 Main St. in Little Rock to celebrate the friend’s birthday about 2 a.m. that day. When they got there, the victim began talking to a man, who introduced himself as Thomas Jones and said his birth date was Sept. 11, 1990, according to an affidavit.
While at the bar, the man told the woman he worked as a prison guard, was in the Army, grew up in Pine Bluff but now lived off Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock, the affidavit states.
The woman and her friend stayed until closing time and the man offered to follow them home “since they had been drinking,” the affidavit says. The victim refused and then went to pay her tab.
When her card was declined, the man stepped in and paid, deputies said.
The two women drove home and the victim noticed a white sports car had pulled up behind her in the driveway, the affidavit states. The man she met at the bar was driving the car, the victim told deputies.
The man said he wanted to make sure the women got home safely, and the victim assured him they were fine and that he could leave, the affidavit states. After the victim helped her friend to bed, she turned and saw the man standing in the bedroom.
The man, who wasn’t invited into the home, asked to use the bathroom. The woman pointed in the direction of the bathroom and told him to hurry, the affidavit states. He then asked her to go to the bathroom “so he could show her something,” deputies said.
When she neared the door, the man pulled her in and began suffocating and touching her, deputies said. The victim fought, kicking the attacker in the groin, deputies said.
The man then wrapped his arm around her neck and threatened to kill her, deputies said. The victim drew blood when she struck the attacker in the head with a ceramic soap dispenser.
He repeatedly threatened to kill the woman for hitting him, deputies said. The man forced the victim into the bathtub while he tried to wipe away all the blood with bleach, deputies said.
“He finally agreed to leave,” the affidavit states. “But took the shower curtain and all of the items that had his blood on them when he left.”
The victim then ran to her neighbor’s home. The neighbor told authorities he saw the man speed off in a white Dodge Charger or Challenger.
Investigators swabbed blood droplets from the house and collected a hair stuck to the victim’s bloodied leg and sent the samples to the state Crime Laboratory. Deputies also searched for men with the given birth date who lived on Rodney Parham Road and examined the bar’s door log.
Bar patrons swipe their driver’s licenses when entering so the bar can keep up with memberships.
Investigators learned Toatley swiped in just after 2:15 a.m. that same day, the affidavit states. One of Toatley’s online social-media profiles showed he worked for the Correction Department and owned a white Dodge Charger, deputies said.
The victim picked Toatley out of a photo lineup “with absolute certainty,” the affidavit states.
Toatley worked at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker from May 6 until Sept. 26. He resigned from the job.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 10/26/2013