Alleged sexual assault by five restaurant workers under investigation in Cross Plains

Two employees at a Cross Plains restaurant have been fired after a customer told police she was sexually assaulted in a storeroom by five men who worked there, the owner said Tuesday.

Owner Martin Valencia said he opened the Cinco de Mayo Mexican restaurant at 23 Glaciers Edge Square nearly two months ago after moving from Jacksonville, Fla.

"All we want is for people to come here and feel safe," Valencia said.

Valencia said he was not at the restaurant when the woman said the assaults occurred on Aug. 3. He said he believes only the two employees who were fired were there at that time.

The woman reported the incident to Cross Plains police Aug. 6.

Police said they have not made any arrests and are continuing an investigation.

Items seized during a search of the restaurant Friday will be sent to the state Crime Lab for analysis, police said.

According to a search warrant filed Monday in Dane County Circuit Court:

The 42-year-old woman told police she went to the restaurant at about 9:40 p.m. to pick up takeout food she had ordered.

She said her food was not ready, so one of the employees offered her a margarita. She then sat at the bar talking with three male employees.

After 15 minutes, the woman said, she began to feel foggy-headed and could hear people talking to her but could not understand what they were saying. She also had a hard time keeping her balance and could barely walk.

The woman said she asked one of the employees for help to get to the bathroom, where he began kissing her. She said she told him to stop, and he did.

As they began walking back to the restaurant, she said, the employee told her she could sit down on a bed located in a small storage room in the back of the restaurant.

After she sat on the bed, the woman said, the employee again started kissing her. She said she tried to push him away and tell him no, but he pushed her back onto the bed and raped her.

After the employee left, the woman said, four others came into the room one at a time and sexually assaulted her. During one of the assaults, she said, the assailant was told by others that his wife was outside driving by the restaurant.

The woman said that after the assaults, she paid for her food and left the restaurant. She went to a hospital on Aug. 5 and had a sexual assault examination.

(c)2012 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)

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