Cop accused of arresting, raping woman

A veteran New Orleans police officer already facing a domestic battery charge is now accused of raping a woman June 30 after arresting her at gunpoint and taking her in his squad car to a warehouse off Tchoupitoulas Street.

Officer Henry L. Hollins, 46, drove the woman to the intersection of Tchoupitoulas and Felicity streets "where he completely disrobed and raped the victim while she remained in handcuffs," according to an application for an arrest warrant signed Friday afternoon by a magistrate commissioner.

"Officer Hollins then drove the victim to an unknown location and released her from custody," the application says.

Hollins had not been arrested as of Friday at 6 p.m. His attorney said Hollins was preparing to surrender to police Friday evening.

The arrest warrant application, prepared and signed by Howard Robertson, an investigator for the Orleans Parish district attorney's office, accuses Hollins of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape.

Attorney Frank DeSalvo, who represented Hollins before the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau, said: "I think they made a mistake. It's an allegation by, I think, a prostitute who says he took her off and had sex with her. But there is no physical evidence.

"I'll try to get a bond for him tomorrow," DeSalvo said. "I was very surprised that they filed this warrant, unless they have discovered some more evidence."

The department's Public Integrity Bureau handles internal investigations of reported officer misconduct, and it typically issues arrest warrants after reviewing complaints.

"If they thought they had a case, trust me, they would have," DeSalvo said of the Hollins case. Instead, "they referred it to the DA's office."

Hollins will be suspended without pay, said officer Johnette Williams, a Police Department spokeswoman. She added that Hollins had been on desk duty since the Public Integrity Bureau received the complaint.

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