A Queens man has been indicted on charges of rape and kidnapping for dragging a drunken woman from the Marquee nightclub in Chelsea and taking her to his apartment to have sex with her.
Luis Zambrano, 39, was formally charged today with rape, kidnapping and sexual abuse in connnection with the March 22 incident that started at the Marquee nightclub in Chelsea.
The victim, 23, whose name has not been released, told cops that she drank so much she passed out on a sofa at Marquee and the next thing she knew, the suspect was having sex with her in a different location, the indictment said.
Investigators said Zambrano drove the incapacitated victim to his apartment in College Point, where he sexually assaulted her twice. The victim regained consciousness during the second assault and had no idea where she was nor who the defendant was. She was missing her coat and personal belongings.
The victim was treated at a hospital after returning to Manhattan.
Surveillance footage from the club backs up the victim's account. Video captures her passed out on the couch as Zambrano kisses her and touches her crotch, prosecutors said. Later, video shows Zambrano dragging the victim downstairs and out of the club.
Zambrano admitted to cops that the drunken woman had trouble speaking, kept passing out and couldn't walk on her own. He also told investigators he thought she might have been drugged.
If convicted, the suspect could spend 25 years behind bars. A spokeswoman for the nightclub had no comment, according to the Post.
This isn't the first time the scandal-plagued Marquee club has made headlines. In December, a Brooklyn beauty named Laura Garza vanished after leaving the club with a convicted sex offender, Michael Mele. Garza, 25, got into Mele's car and was last seen at about 5 a.m. in an upstate parking lot. Cops have searched for her body to no avail.
Mele hasn't been charged in connection with Garza's disappearance, but cops have been holding him on $300,000 bail in Orange County on possession of stolen debit and credit cards charges. He's also been accused of failing to report an address change and violating his probation by going to the Marquee club because alcohol is served there, according to the Post.
