Woman Raped in Deserted Denver Airport Concourse

An Oregon man is being held on suspicion of sexual assault after police say he raped a woman at Denver International Airport early Tuesday morning, Fox31 News reports.

The alleged victim, 22, who had missed a connecting flight to Illinois, told Fox31 that she first met Noel Alexander Bertrand, 26, of Portland, Ore., at an airport bar. They continued their conversation in a row of seats near a terminal window after the bar closed at midnight.

"Immediately he asked if he could kiss me, and I said, no, that’s a bit forward," the woman said.

He moved in anyway and then threw her to the floor. The woman said the man pulled her pants down and assaulted her for about 10 minutes.

“He grabbed the back of my hair with his hand...and pulled my head up, and began to slam my head into the floor," she said.

The woman says two janitors passed by during the attack but did nothing.

"I was appalled that I was going through something so brutal, and they kept walking. There’s no security there to yell out to,” she said. "This was going on for almost ten minutes, and nobody was doing anything."

Two airlines employees on the tarmac eventually saw the assault and called police.

Airport spokeswoman Jenny Schiavone told the Denver Post that a security guard called 911 and detained Bertrand until police arrived.

The woman spent the evening in the hospital being treated for injures that included bruises to her eyes and legs.

Bertrand is being held on suspicion of assault and felony sexual assault with bail set at $10,000.

A woman who said she is Bertrand's grandmother answered the phone at his Portland home Tuesday and said he is in Denver. She said her grandson is a former U.S. Marine but declined further comment to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click here to read more on this story from Fox31.