PORT TOWNSEND — A Marysville man accused of kidnapping and raping his former girlfriend while she was driving him home the day he was released from the Clallam Bay Corrections Center in July 2019 has now been transferred to Jefferson County to face charges.
Rhyan Tyler Vasquez, 26. was charged by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Julie St. Marie of Jefferson County on Jan. 16, 2020, with rape in the first degree – domestic violence – recently released from incarceration – deliberate cruelty; kidnapping in the first degree – domestic violence – recently released from incarceration – deliberate cruelty; unlawful imprisonment – domestic violence – recently released from incarceration – deliberate cruelty; and harassment – threats to kill – domestic violence – recently released from incarceration – deliberate cruelty, according to court documents.
Due to unrelated charges against Vasquez regarding a different reported assault of the same victim in Snohomish County, he was only recently transferred to Jefferson County to face charges in the county Superior Court.
Vasquez’ bail was set at $250,000 during a preliminary appearance Thursday in Superior Court.
Judge Keith Harper also signed a no-contact order barring him from contacting the victim.
He is prohibited from owning a firearm or any other dangerous weapons and is required to turn over any firearms to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, court documents said.
He remained in the Jefferson County Jail on Thursday.
His next court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. July 23.
The first-degree rape and kidnapping charges are both Class A felonies punishable by up to life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine, while the harassment and imprisonment charges are both Class C felonies punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine, court documents said.
Vasquez had a romantic relationship with the victim for about a year and a half, with the pair corresponding via a recorded phone line when he was incarcerated at the Clallam Bay Corrections Facility, the probable cause report written by Deputy Joseph Pursley said.
On June 21, 2019 — 16 days before Vasquez’s release from the corrections facility on July 8 — the victim broke up with Vasquez over a recorded phone call, saying, “I need you to be OK with me just being your friend. I need you to be OK with the fact that I’m with somebody else.
“I want you to have a beautiful life. I just also need you to know that that life isn’t going to include me.”
She agreed to pick him up on his release day, and on July 8,2019, she did so at about noon, heading back to the Everett/Marysville area traveling along U.S. Highway 101, Pursley’s report said.
When in-between Port Angeles and Sequim, Vasquez reportedly asked the victim to pull over and let him out at a bus stop. When the victim started to pull over, Vasquez allegedly became angry and grabbed the wheel of the car and tried to force the vehicle back onto the road.
The victim stopped the car and Vasquez refused to leave and then allegedly tried to forcibly take the keys away from her but the victim retained them and continued to drive down the road, before eventually pulling over near the Sequim Bay Lodge, as Vasquez needed to urinate, the report said.
After failing to drive away without him, Vasquez allegedly fought the victim for the car keys and when she tried to use her phone to call for help, Vasquez threw her phone into the woods, the report said.
The victim tried to run into traffic to get help, but Vasquez reportedly grabbed her and pushed her into the passenger seat and drove away. While driving, Vasquez allegedly punched the victim in the face and threatened to kill her at least 10 times and also threatened to assault her boyfriend, the report said.
Continuing down Highway 101, they reached Triton Cove State Park, where Vasquez allegedly raped the victim in the bathroom there, before they continued driving south, where he reportedly then raped her twice in a portable toilet at a construction site near the Tacoma Dome, the report said.
In later interviews, Vasquez claimed they had consensual sex in the bathrooms, but did admit to punching her and throwing her phone, the report said.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
