Man Charged With Groping 2 Women At Valparaiso Bar
VALPARAISO, Ind. (CBS) -- A Valparaiso man is facing serious criminal charges, after two women said he got drunk in a bar, reached under their clothes and forcibly groped them.
Fernando Alvarado, 30, stands charged with two counts of Class D felony sexual battery, and misdemeanor public intoxication, for his conduct early Wednesday morning at the Franklin House, at 58 S. Campbell St. in Valparaiso.
Police had shown up at the bar around 2:45 a.m. to help staff close the business for the night after a disturbance involving about 15 people.
When officers arrived, two women – a 29-year-old Valparaiso resident and her friend – approached and complained about a man a yellow and black hooded sweat shirt, who was later identified as Alvarado.
The women said Alvarado came up to them around 1:40 a.m. and was being "very vulgar," even though one of the women was with her boyfriend, and the other with her husband. The boyfriend bought Alvarado a shot, and asked him to go away, police said.
But the boyfriend and husband stepped away to the men's room, and at that point, police say, Alvarado really crossed the line.
He came up to the women again and put his hand down one woman's shirt and grabbed her breasts. He then put his hand up the other's woman's dress and groped her vagina, according to the police report.
The Franklin House where the alleged incidents happened is billed as the nation's oldest pub, dating back to 1857.
In July of last year, the bar was cited for buying alcohol from an improper source after its sales permit expired, and offering pull-tab gaming despite an expired permit, the Northwest Indiana Times reported at the time.
The arrest report did not indicate Alvarado's response to the allegations.
The Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.
