COURT News:
An incident report filed by Los Alamos Police Det. Matt Lyon indicates that a 31-year-old Los Alamos man charged with aggravated battery, false imprisonment and attempt to commit sexual assault told him he should have stopped, that he knew the victim was not interested after she pushed him away the first time.
Sachin Pandey was arrested Oct. 3 following an investigation by Lyon. When Lyon interviewed Pandey, he asked him what he was trying to do when he was being aggressive with the victim. Pandey responded that sometimes he gets lonely and that “she did not like him”. Pandey said he would never have done anything sexual with the victim and that the people who pulled him off her, “did not let it get that far”.
Lyon requested an arrest warrant for Pandey after he interviewed the victim and witnesses in the case. His report states that he noticed the victim had stitches on her left eyebrow as well as on her arms and face. She told Lyon she had been drinking with friends at about 2:30 a.m. Sept. 24 when the incident occurred. She said she and some friends had walked someone to their truck and she was on her way back to camp alone when she was attacked. She said she did not remember much of the attack and the next thing she remembered was “being beat up” and telling one of her friends that she had been hit with a rock.
The victim said a short time later, a friend took her to Los Alamos Medical Center. When Lyon asked the victim if she had drunk enough to affect her memory, she said she had not. She said her friends told her she had started walking back toward camp about 45 minutes earlier than they did and that they found her on her back with Pandey lying on top of her. She said the friends told her they didn’t know anything was wrong until she got back to camp, and they noticed that she had been beaten up. She said her friends told her Pandey had returned to camp before her, started to put out the fire and left.
Lyon’s report states that the victim said she remembered trying to hit Pandey with her knee as hard as she could and that she remembered a struggle and being in fear. She said she did not believe there had been any sexual penetration by was not sure because she couldn’t remember. She told Lyon she had bruises on her inner thighs as if Pandey was trying to get close to her.
During his interview with Lyon, Pandey said he and a few friends were at Camp May. He said he and the victim were left alone at the campsite and that he had asked her if he could kiss her and she had responded, “no”. He said later he tried to kiss her, but she physically pushed him away. He said he interpreted her pushing him away as her not be interested in him. He said a short time later they were talking, and he asked her if she was not interested and at that point in time she embraced him in what he described as a hug.
Lyon’s report says Sachin stated that they fell to the floor and began to roll around, that they were “wrestling” and that at one point he ended up on top of the victim in a straddling position with his hands on top of her hands and his legs over body. Pandey told Lyon he didn’t think the victim felt threatened because she had hugged him moments earlier, that he “thought she was smiling”.
Pandey told Lyon he was pulled off by unknown persons. He said he was struck five or six times as he was pulled and that he didn’t know if he was hit by friends or the victim. He said he drank a lot of alcohol that night and believed he had a concussion from being hit but could not identify anyone who had hit him.
Pandey told Lyon he hung around camp for about 10 to 15 minutes and was struck again 10 to 15 times before leaving the camp site. When Lyon asked him if he thought his actions toward the victim were wrong, Pandey said they were.
A preliminary hearing for Pandey has been scheduled for Dec. 1 before Magistrate Judge Pat Casados.
