[StBernard] St. Bernard rape, assault suspect surrenders

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard rape, assault suspect surrenders
by The Times-Picayune 
Saturday May 03, 2008, 3:52 PM

A man accused of abducting a woman outside a Poydras bar, raping her,
beating her unconscious and leaving her for dead in a parking lot turned
himself in Saturday to the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office.

Bernard Turner, 23, of 6 Jupiter Circle in Violet, was booked midday
Saturday with aggravated rape, kidnapping and second-degree battery,
sheriff's office spokesman Steve Cannizaro said. Turner was being held
without bond at the St. Bernard Parish Prison pending a bond hearing, he
said. 

Authorities announced Friday that they were searching for Turner in
connection with the brutal assault on April 26 of a 25-year-old woman. 

According to sheriff's deputies, the woman was grabbed from behind and
forced into a car about 8:30 p.m. as she left Barracuda's Lounge in the 7900
block of East St. Bernard Highway. Three hours later, a deputy making an
unrelated traffic stop found the woman unconscious in a parking lot about a
mile from the bar. 

The woman had cuts and bruises on her face and was taken to University
Hospital in New Orleans, where she lie unconscious for several days, unaware
that she'd been raped until a medical exam confirmed the sexual assault.
Deputies have said the victim did not know her attacker. 

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Turner on Wednesday after they
allegedly found some of the woman's bloody clothes inside his home. 

Turner was booked Feb. 19 with possession with intent to distribute
marijuana and other charges after deputies who pulled him over for speeding
found a pound of marijuana with a street value of $1,600 in Turner's car. He
was freed on bond. 

Detectives on Friday were continuing to investigate whether a second man was
involved in the assault. Anyone with information can call the Sheriff's
Office at (504) 271-2501 or (504) 278-7630.