Lawyer, 76, accused of rape, false imprisonment

A 76-year-old Spokane lawyer was booked into the Spokane County Jail on Friday on charges of rape and unlawful imprisonment.

Robert Caruso, who made a failed bid to be Spokane County prosecutor eight years ago, turned himself in at the Public Safety Building around 2 p.m. Friday after the Washington attorney general’s office issued a warrant for his arrest. Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker asked the attorney general’s office to prosecute the case.

Caruso remains in jail in lieu of $200,000 bond, said his attorney, David Partovi.

“We’re going to court on Monday and argue that he should be released,” Partovi said.

The bond set on the warrant is too high for a man with no criminal record who has been a longtime resident, Partovi said.

“He also spoke to law enforcement for three hours at the scene,” he said. “He’s been extraordinarily cooperative.”

Caruso is accused of raping a 22-year-old woman who’d been in a car crash on Sept. 6. She told Spokane police that Caruso drove by and offered to help her, but instead of taking her to the hospital as he promised he drove her to his condominium on the South Hill and drugged and raped her, according to court records.

Caruso doesn’t deny that the woman was in his condo but maintains that the sex was consensual, Partovi said.

This week detectives filed new search warrants seeking texts sent from the woman’s phone and Caruso’s phone. The woman told police she used both phones to call and text her mother and a friend during the incident.