Alaska Man Assaulted Unconscious Woman in Police Station ‘Out of Boredom,’ Officials Say

Stock photo of police tape. Carl Ballou/Shutterstock

An Alaska man was arrested after he was caught sexually assaulting an unconscious woman inside a police statement.

Devan Thomas Gage, 25, was arrested on May 13 at the Fairbank Police Department station after a dispatcher told officers that cameras caught the assault in the station, police said in a statement.

“Investigation into the incident revealed that at approximately 3:56 a.m., a male and female entered the lobby of the Fairbanks Police Department and, after slipping a lost debit card under the closed front-desk window, left the lobby and sat down in the vestibule to warm up,” the statement said.

A map shows Fairbanks, Alaska Google Maps

The female then slumped over after passing out before Gage assaulted her, police added.

After the assault, a dispatcher became aware of the assault after viewing the surveillance system.

“She quickly alerted the two officers that were in the building and the two officers responded immediately to the vestibule and pulled the male off the female. The female victim began to wake up and was very confused as to what was happening,” Fairkbanks Police said. “The victim’s level of impairment precluded her from providing consent for sexual contact, and the victim was transported by ambulance to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for medical care.”

According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Fairbanks News-Miner, Gage said he assaulted the female “really just out of boredom” and admitted it was a mistake.

Gage told police that he was sober and was hanging out with the woman all night. Police discovered vodka in his pocket, the report said.

The woman had a 0.300 breath-alcohol content, and Gage had a breath-alcohol content of 0.000.

A photo the shows Fairbanks, Alaska police station Google Maps

The department also issued an alert.

“Sexual assault is a serious problem throughout Alaska, and the City of Fairbanks administration and the Fairbanks Police Department take all cases of sexual assault very seriously. While in this case officers were able to stop the sexual assault from continuing and arrest the perpetrator, it is very disturbing that it occurred at all. A victim advocate was arranged to provide further assistance to the victim,” police wrote.

Facts About Crime in the United States

Violent crime in the United States has fallen sharply over the past 25 years, according to both the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

The rate of violent crimes fell by 49 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the FBI’s UCR, which only reflects crimes reported to the police.

Crime scene in Chicago, Ill., on May 28, 2017. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The violent crime rate dropped by 74 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the BJS’s NCVS, which takes into account both crimes that have been reported to the police and those that have not.

“From 1993 to 2017, the rate of violent victimization declined 74 percent, from 79.8 to 20.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older,” the U.S. Department of Justice stated.

Both studies are based on data up to and including 2017, the most recent year for which complete figures are available.

The FBI recently released preliminary data for 2018. According to the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January to June 2018, violent crime rates in the United States dropped by 4.3 percent compared to the same six-month period in 2017.