Man arrested in alleged rape

Spokane police have arrested a man suspected of raping a woman in a garage earlier this week.

Paul T. Thornton, 34, is being held on $50,000 bond in the Spokane County Jail on a charge of second-degree rape. Police said he told them he had consensual sex with the woman and did not rape her.

The alleged rape was reported at 2:30 a.m. Thursday when the woman arrived at a hospital for treatment, according to court documents. The woman said she and friends were on the front porch of a home in the 6100 block of North Lidgerwood Street when a man rode up on a bike and introduced himself as “Paulie.”

The woman told police that she intervened when the man “accosted” her female friend, according to court documents. After her friend ran inside the home, the man grabbed the alleged victim by the hair and dragged her through an alley to a vacant garage in the 6300 block of North Astor Street, where he sexually assaulted her, court documents say.

Police were able to identify Thornton quickly based on the woman’s description of his tattoos, including the name “Erica” on his neck.

The woman told police that she repeatedly punched Thornton in the face during the assault. Officers noted that she had several scraped knuckles and Thornton had a split lip when he was arrested, according to court documents.

Thornton told police that the sex was consensual and that the woman had initiated the sexual contact, according to court documents. He also told police that the two had smoked methamphetamine together.

Thornton’s criminal history includes convictions for trespassing, violation of a no-contact order and unlawful imprisonment-domestic violence.