A 34-year-old Euclid man faces possible drug charges after Middleburg Heights police found what he admitted was cocaine inside his Red Roof Inn room on Oct. 13. A 25-year-old Cleveland woman also accused him of trying to rape her at the hotel that morning. Police say they will not pursue a rape charge because the two accounts conflicted and no witnesses were present, but they plan to document the alleged attempted assault in their report.
According to cleveland.com, the woman called police at about 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 13 and said the man had tried to rape her earlier that morning at the hotel, located at 17555 Bagley Road. She told officers he had invited her to his room for breakfast and that she had met him a few months earlier. Once inside, she said, he tried to pull down her shorts; she said she was not there for sex and left the room.
The man admitted inviting the woman to his room but denied trying to pull down her shorts, the outlet reports. He told police the two had argued about a past occurrence and that he asked her to leave after the dispute. The woman also told police that cocaine was in the man's hotel room and that he had sent her $46, without explaining why or how.
Cocaine Found Near Bank Card and Under the Bed
While investigating the woman's account, police noticed a white rocklike substance near a bank card on the nightstand. The man admitted it was cocaine, though he claimed the woman had brought that substance to his room. Officers then found a clear plastic bag containing another white rocklike substance under the bed, and he admitted that cocaine belonged to him as well.
Police told the man he would face charges if the substance tested positive for cocaine, per the report. Because the two gave conflicting accounts of the alleged attempted rape and there were no witnesses to corroborate either version, police said they would not charge him with that offense but would still document the incident.
A Similar Scene at the Same Red Roof Inn in 2024
This is not the first time narcotics have surfaced at the same Bagley Road hotel. In October 2024, Middleburg Heights police arrested a wanted 32-year-old Newburgh Heights man and a wanted 33-year-old Ashtabula woman after finding what officers believed were narcotics in their room at the same Red Roof Inn, as cleveland.com reported at the time. Officers in that case saw a white rocklike substance on a counter after entering the room.
That 2024 arrest took a dangerous turn when the woman lost consciousness as police drove her to jail; officers administered a dose of Narcan before she was taken to a local hospital. Investigators in that case also found a firearm in the room that turned out to be a carbon-dioxide-powered pistol incapable of firing ammunition.
Ohio Law on Drug Possession
Ohio law addresses drug possession under the Ohio Revised Code Section 2925.11.
