A man was arrested Wednesday after police say he tried to rape a woman who was walking her dog on a trail in Cedar City.
George Patrick Holland, 32, who police say is homeless, was booked into the Iron County Jail and charged Thursday in 5th District Court with attempted rape, a first-degree felony, and making a threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor.
The frightened woman called 911 reporting that a man had tried to rape her in the area of 600 West and 200 South, according to a police booking affidavit.
“The female stated she was walking her dog on the walking trail when she took him off the trail to the river to get a drink,” the affidavit states.
Before taking her dog to the river, the woman stated she saw a man crossing the river. She said she waited until he was no longer in sight before going to the water.
“After getting down to the river, she turned around and saw George was walking toward her. George asked if he could pet her dog. At this point the female had a weird feeling and told him that was not a good idea,” the affidavit says.
As the woman pulled the leash to bring her dog back to her, police say Holland got in front of the woman and ordered her to get on her knees.
“I’m going to knock you the (expletive) out,” Holland told the woman, according to the affidavit. He also allegedly told the woman that there were “‘other rapists here with him’ and that he was going to rape her.’”
The woman told the man that if he tried to touch her, her dog would bite him.
“This gave her enough time to run up the hill back on the walking trail. She ran into a group of people walking and she began crying and told them she almost got raped. They began keeping an eye on the subject as officers arrived,” police wrote.
Officers searched the area and found Holland and began questioning him.
“George kept saying he did not know why he was being arrested. He stated he relapsed on meth today and was high,” the affidavit states.
While he was being questioned, Holland told the officers, “I did not rape that girl,” according to the affidavit. At that point, the officers asked him why he thought he was being investigated for rape when they had not said anything about that.
Police said in the report that Holland “has a long criminal history” that includes assault with a weapon.