Jerad Shipman, 43, of San Angelo, is still in the Brewster County Jail, charged with multiple felonies, nearly a week after allegedly kidnapping and assaulting his girlfriend and holding law enforcement officers from multiple agencies at bay from a hotel room for several hours on May 18.
Shipman initially refused police requests to leave his hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites at 2004 East Highway 90 until he could speak with an attorney, said Alpine Police Captain Felipe Fierro.
“The Texas Ranger was the one that initiated contact with him verbally at the door, and he demanded an attorney,” Fierro said. “He was able to get in touch with an attorney, and he finally did come out, willingly, and was taken into custody.”
Fierro estimated that Shipman was taken into custody about two and a half hours after law enforcement officers first asked him to leave his room and after speaking to an attorney by telephone.
Charges against Shipman include kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated assault, Fierro said. Shipman’s bail is set at $1.2 million.
Agencies, including the Alpine Police Department, Brewster County Sheriff’s Department, Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security Investigation, and the Texas Rangers, responded to a call at 7:20 pm Monday, May 18, at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites when a woman in the lobby of the hotel called police, saying she had been held at gunpoint and assaulted, Fierro said.
“The officers that arrived met with the female complainant, stating that she had been held at gunpoint in one of the rooms, and she was able to get out and go to the lobby,” Fierro said. “And during the investigation, with the assistance of other agencies, we were able to determine that other incidents did occur.
The woman was also choked, he said. “She was assaulted, and there was a firearm produced, so that makes it an aggravated assault and also an assault of a family member by impeding respiratory circulation, which is a third-degree felony. He strangled her.”
Fierro clarified that in these charges, people who are dating are considered family members and added that Shipman and the woman were dating.
Shipman, who was in Alpine for business, and the woman had apparently planned their meeting at the hotel. Fierro would only describe the woman as an adult and not an Alpine resident.
Aggravated sexual assault is a first-degree felony. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a second-degree felony. Assault of a family member by impeding breath or circulation is a third-degree felony.