Suspects held in Roosevelt assault, kidnap

A couple who Nassau County prosecutors say knocked out a woman, then assaulted and raped her before binding her and leaving her in a wooded area of Roosevelt, were jailed without bail Thursday.

Kenneth Bass, 53, and Julia Lopez, 37, both of Roosevelt, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, assault, forcing a person to perform a sexual act and possession of a controlled substance.

The two -- each represented by Legal Aid attorneys -- were remanded without bail and are due to return Monday to First District Court in Hempstead.

A third suspect is being sought in the May 5 incident that left the victim, 46, beaten and semiconscious in the woods and bound with a plastic bag over her head, police said.

Police did not identify the third suspect by gender, but court papers said he is a man who also raped the victim.

Det. Sgt. Robert J. Matedero of the Special Victims Squad said officers described the beating as "exceptionally brutal."

Matedero said the squad's investigation was delayed because the victim, who remains hospitalized, was unable to be interviewed for seven days because of her injuries -- broken facial bones, including a broken eye socket, loss of feeling in her hands and feet, a cut on her lip that required 17 stitches and partial loss of vision.

While prosecutors in court Thursday said the argument was about crack, police said it was about money.

Police said Bass and Lopez told them they did not know the victim.

The victim had been driven by a man, a friend, to the home on Brookside Drive in Roosevelt where Bass and Lopez were living, police said. Police said the driver, who is not a suspect, left and was later arrested on a stolen car charge.

Police also said that Bass and Lopez told them they are husband and wife and lived on Prospect Street. But Matedero said police now think the two were squatters at the Brookside Drive home.

The woman was severely beaten, raped by Bass as Lopez and the third suspect held her down and forced her to perform a sex act, prosecutors charged, along with being robbed of her handbag and cellphone. At one point, the victim said she heard Bass or Lopez say, "We have to kill her," according to court papers.

The suspects then placed a plastic bag around the victim's head, tied her hands and feet and left her in woods behind Henry Street, police said. She freed herself and dragged herself about 150 yards to a streetlight, where she screamed for help and was found by a motorist, Matedero said.With Gary Dymski