Man, 34, charged with rape in assault in Montgomery College bathroom

A 34-year-old man was charged Wednesday with rape after he allegedly crawled under a bathroom stall in the Montgomery College campus performing arts center to get to the victim, according to charging documents.

The assault, which occurred about 2 p.m. Tuesday, prompted officials to lock down the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus for about 90 minutes. A manhunt in the immediate area led police to the suspect, Nathaniel L. Hart, at a Days Inn later that evening.

According to police, the attacker told the female student that he had a gun, then raped her, hugged her and sobbed, saying he was going to hell. He then raped her again, police said. The attacker and the woman were in the stall for about an hour, the charging documents said.

After his arrest, Hart drew attention with his behavior, a jail official said. "He said he didn't understand why he was here, and he was hallucinating," the jail official told District Judge Eugene Wolfe at a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Hart spoke briefly at the hearing, via a video feed from the jail. "Can you tell me again the charges I have?" he asked Wolfe.

The judge listed them: two counts of first-degree rape and one count each of attempted first-degree sex offense and attempted escape.

Wolfe postponed the hearing for one week so Hart could be evaluated. The suspect was held without bond. It was not clear whether Hart had retained an attorney.

The charging documents, signed by Detective Larry Haley, gave a detailed account of the police allegations and suggested that Hart may have been homeless over the past few weeks.

The woman, a 19-year-old student, had entered the bathroom a short time after leaving a class. After the suspect crawled into the stall, he told her: "Be quiet. I have a gun and I will use it," Haley wrote.

At one point during the incident, the attacker apologized and began talking about his ex-wife.

Detectives spoke to a campus security worker who said that on Jan. 15 he had had a run-in with a man he found in a different women's room. The man appeared to be planning to spend the night, according to police and school officials. The man provided an expired Montgomery College student ID card issued to Nathaniel Hart, school officials said. The security worker escorted him off the campus and then saw him return and run away later that night, according to a school spokeswoman.

As officers fanned out in the area Tuesday, the suspect tried to board a bus near Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District "but was denied entry," Haley wrote.

Several hours later, two officers were canvassing the nearby Days Inn, on 13th Street in Silver Spring, when they noticed one of the doors ajar. They checked with a manager, who told them the room was vacant. They went inside, found Hart lying on the bed and took him into custody.

At police headquarters, the charging documents said, Hart managed to slide over, unhook his seat belt and try to leave the police car. "A brief but violent struggle ensued and Hart was restrained" by detectives, Haley wrote.