A 30-year old man from Austin, Texas was recently arrested in the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba after authorities received a complaint against him.
According to police officers, the man identified as Patrick Maxwell was alleged to have beat, run over, and threatened to rape a 70-year-old woman who worked as a taxi driver in the island. Maxwell is currently facing aggravated assault and attempted rape charges. A Public Prosecution spokeswoman has confirmed that the American will be held for another week without bond until he faces the court for his first hearing scheduled on Feb. 9.
Maxwell is reported to be visiting the island with his colleagues from a real estate company where he works in. They flew in to Aruba to celebrate their team's achievements in sales. According to ABCNews, the group went to a night club on the last night of their trip. Late Saturday, Maxwell boarded a taxi to head back to his hotel in Oranjestad. The taxi was being driven by the victim, Grace Angela.
Police reports that Maxwell had asked the driver to stop at a pharmacy but later refused to alight from the vehicle. He then started to shout and hit the driver in the face before threatening to rape her. This prompted the driver to get out of the cab. Maxwell, however, followed her and kept on hitting her before riding the taxi and escaping. In the process, he ran over the torso and leg of Angela. The incident has left Angela in the hospital as she is being treated for seven broken ribs, wounds on her legs, and a broken nose.
Speaking in behalf of Maxwell is defense attorney Chris Lejeuz who said that his client does not "remember much" about the incident. Lejeuz confirms that Maxwell had consumed alcohol prior to the incident but it does not explain what could have "triggered his actions."
Last March, Maxwell was profiled as a former US marine who had served in Iraq in 2006 before he was honorably discharged in 2011. He then voluntarily returned to join Kurdish security forces in Iraq in late 2014.
