Spokane Valley Denny’s manager under investigation for raping customer on restaurant property

The manager of a Denny’s in Spokane Valley is under investigation for raping a customer in an outbuilding on restaurant property.

The woman called 911 at about 11 p.m. Monday, saying she had been raped 10 minutes earlier, according to a search warrant filed Tuesday in Spokane Superior Court.

The woman reportedly told Spokane County Sheriff’s detectives she was drinking in the bar at Denny’s on 6 N. Pines Road, when the manager led her to a locked mechanical room on the north side of the building.

Court records say once inside the room, the manager pushed her up against a wall and told her she couldn’t leave. Despite verbally telling him no multiple times, she told detectives he raped her.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the man has not been arrested or charged.

The woman was taken to MultiCare Valley Hospital.

When detectives interviewed the manager, he told them the woman was trying to “hit on him,” court records say. He said when he went to the mechanical room, the woman attempted to follow him in.

Detectives also interviewed a restaurant bartender, who said the woman was being flirtatious with the manager. Court records say she witnessed her manager leave the building twice and the woman followed him out.

Detectives obtained swabs of the man’s saliva and seized his underwear.

A representative at Denny’s was not immediately available for comment.