Prosecutors charge Hispanic with rape and sexual assault

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 24-year-old Latino with rape and sexual assault in an attack that was believed to be connected to a series of robberies in which two men posing as police targeted fast food managers after they closed their restaurants. Samuel Oscar Gonzalez of Lakewood pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery and first-degree criminal impersonation. Superior Court Judge Brian Tollefson ordered him held in jail in lieu of $2 million bail. Prosecutors noted in charging documents that police were investigating several other robberies that are similar to the attack linked to Gonzalez.