Kennewick woman may have been drugged before alleged rape

A Kennewick man is accused of breaking into a woman’s home and raping her some time after he gave her an alcoholic lemonade drink and a hard candy.

Randy J. Ramos, 49, allegedly admitted going into the woman’s home without permission and having sex, and claims she didn’t say yes or no.

He also told Kennewick police after his arrest that the hard candy was edible marijuana, according to court documents.

Ramos pleaded innocent Thursday in Benton County Superior Court to one count of second-degree rape. His trial is scheduled Sept. 11.

The charge states the woman was “incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless and/or mentally incapacitated.”

Officers responded to a Tri-City emergency room on July 15 for reports of a rape victim.

The woman said two men struck up a conversation and offered her a drink. She accepted, adding that she only had one drink of the beverage at Ramos’ house and didn’t stay long, court documents said. She took the beverage home with her.

The woman reported feeling disoriented as she left and vomited once back in her home. She passed out, then was awakened by someone banging on her front door, documents said.

She then realized Ramos was standing over her and, despite her telling him to leave, he allegedly raped her.

She also repeatedly told him to get off her and get out, but he only left after he was finished, court documents said.

The woman told officers she fell asleep. When she woke up again, she called a friend, who drove her to the emergency room, documents said.

She said she believed she was drugged in some manner, Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Howell wrote in court documents.

Ramos initially denied going to the woman’s home, then changed his account of what happened several times during the interview, documents said.

He is held in the Benton County jail on $200,000 bail.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Kennewick woman may have been drugged before alleged rape."