Man accused of beating, raping pregnant woman while holding her hostage

PINGREE – A convicted felon is accused of holding a pregnant woman hostage in a vehicle while beating and raping her as they drove around for hours Thursday.

Court documents obtained by EastIdahoNews.com detail the terrifying series of events deputies say led to the arrest of 27-year-old Jerad Rene Contreras on Feb. 2.

Contreras is charged with kidnapping, rape, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, burglary, violating a no contact order, violating a civil protection order and intentional destruction of a telecommunication line. He is being held on a $1 million bond in the Bingham County Jail.

Investigative reports show Bingham County Sheriff deputies were called to a home on the 300 block of 1300 West in Pingree around 10 p.m. responding to a report Contreras had violated a no-contact order and a civil protective order issued in Idaho Falls.

Within five minutes, dispatchers received another call saying a home on the same street had possibly been burglarized.

Three deputies arrived at the homes, and while Deputy Devin Trujillo responded to the attempted burglary call, Cpl. Burkam Burnett and Deputy Lawrence Henrie began investigating the Contreras case.

They quickly noticed a vehicle associated with Contreras parked at the home.

“We observed a teal Volvo .. that matched the vehicle Idaho Falls was looking for. We went to the house … and asked where Jerad and (the victim) were. (The resident) told us he did not know,” a police report reads.

Deputies searched inside the home and were unable to find Contreras.

As they were leaving, Henrie looked into the windows of the Volvo.

“He was able to see somebody under a blanket in the back seat,” court documents state. “The back and side windows were tinted very dark, and it was difficult to see into the backseat … I called out, and (the victim’s) head popped up from the blanket. I could then see that a male was on top of her.”

“I yelled in the car to unlock the door and come out,” Henrie said. “I could see that (the victim) was upset and crying. I could see that (her) face looked like she had cuts and bruises on it. (She) was begging Jerad to let her open the door … (she) begged several times to let her open the door.”

Trujillo stated, “Multiple times I saw her hand attempt to unlock the car door, but something was pulling her hand away every time.”

After deputies warned that they would break the window, the woman unlocked the door, and “her face was bruised and her left eye was swollen and cut open.”

Contreras was taken into custody and court documents state he repeatedly said, “I don’t talk to cops.”

The woman told investigators Contreras had contacted her around 5 a.m. that day. He told her he would drop the Volvo in an alley near her house and then “leave her alone.”

When the woman saw the car in the alley later that day, she went to get in it and was surprised to see Contreras inside.

The woman said Contreras convinced her to go for a drive and “talk about their relationship,” according to documents. The woman began driving and took the Rose/Firth exit.

“She told me after she took the exit, Jerad started hitting her,” Burnett said. “She told me he threw her into the backseat and drove around and would stop and hit her.”

Henrie stated, “(She) said he was driving her around and was punching her. (She) said he then grabbed a wiper blade arm and started hitting her in the back of the head with it. (She) said he drove her around for hours hitting her. (She) said he kept telling her he was going to take her to the desert and kill her. (She) said that she begged him not to kill her and agreed to do anything he asked.”

The woman told investigators she had sex with Contreras because “she did not want him to hit her if she told him no.”

The couple eventually ended up at the home on 1300 W. Contreras went inside, and the woman told detectives she ran into a home across the street to hide.

“(She) said the front door was not locked and she went in … She could not find anyone to help her in the house so she started looking for a phone and somewhere to hide. (She) said she could not find a phone and she grabbed a knife and hid it on her. (She) said that Jerad entered the house through the garage and found her and took her back to the car,” court documents state.

Contreras had previously destroyed her cellphone earlier that day, according to court documents.

Deputies arrived a short time after Contreras took her back to the car. She told investigators she was pregnant and “she was afraid that he was going to kill her.”

The woman was taken by ambulance to Bingham Memorial Hospital, where a rape kit was administered.

Deputies learned the attempted burglary was actually the victim, who had entered the home to hide. Nothing was taken except the steak knife she had used to protect herself, according to court documents. Contreras was charged with burglary because he entered the home with the intent of retrieving the victim.

Contreras has an extensive criminal history. He was found guilty of five felonies in Bingham County in 2007, including criminal conspiracy, burglary and probation violations.

In 2009, he was found guilty of aggravated assault on a police officer in Bingham County.

In November, he was arrested in Idaho Falls after a woman told police he grabbed her by the throat twice, causing her to pass out. He was charged with felony attempted strangulation and three misdemeanor charges.

A warrant for his arrest was issued Jan. 31 after Contreras failed to appear for a court hearing. He was arrested two days later in Bingham County.

Contreras’ next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16.