Homeless man sentenced for raping woman in Ballard car dealership bathroom
SEATTLE - A man convicted for raping a woman in a car dealership bathroom has been sentenced for the violent assault.
According to King County prosecutors, Christopher Edward Teel was sentenced to 8.5 years to life in prison for first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment.
Police say on May 14, 2018, a woman dropped her car off for service at Carter Volkswagen in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. The dealership building was under construction and she was in the dealership's temporary bathroom when a man barged in.
"He grabbed me by my throat and my shoulder and he threw me down on the ground in front of the handicapped stall and we fought for several minutes," the victim recalled in an interview with documentary filmmaker Christopher Rufo.
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"During the sexual assault, he said, 'You want this,' and he said, 'God wants this.' And I thought to myself that I didn't want to die and I didn't want to die on a linoleum trailer bathroom floor."
Employees from the car dealership heard the attack and rushed to the bathroom. The door was locked but Lindsey managed to unlock it and escape. Two dealership employees held down the man until police arrived.
At the time of the attack, Teel already had a warrant for his arrest and was living in a city-approved homeless camp in Ballard.
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