Indictments include business owner accused of sexual assault

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October 30, 2012

Indictments include business owner accused of sexual assault

Christin Coyne CNHI The Weatherford Democrat Tue Oct 30, 2012, 08:00 AM CDT

PARKER COUNTY — A Springtown business owner was indicted Thursday by a Parker County Grand Jury on a charge of sexually assaulting one of his employees.

Avni “Tony” Muhametaj, 55, owner of Tony’s Pizza and Pasta, is accused of raping a woman in her mid-20s, a charge he denies.

Springtown Police Lt. Curtis Stone said the woman went to Harris Northwest Hospital in Azle on March 20 requesting to be checked out after being sexually assaulted. Hospital staff alerted Springtown police.

The woman told Stone that she worked at Tony’s on March 19 until closing and asked another coworker for a ride when Muhametaj offered to give her a ride home after work and she turned him down, Stone said. He reportedly went back inside the business.

She said there were no lights out back so she went inside and Muhametaj called her into his office. She said he sexually assaulted her there, according to Stone.

The woman indicated she told Muhametaj, “No,” several times, Stone said.

There were no weapons involved in the incident, according to Stone.

A search warrant for Muhametaj’s DNA was obtained during the investigation, as well.

Police have received some previous complaints from employees alleging sexual harrassment but “nothing with enough probable cause to pursue charges on,” according to Stone.

Muhametaj was arrested at his restaurant April 12 and posted $50,000 bond the following day. Shortly after his arrest, he told the Democrat he did not know what he was charged with and later said he did not sexually assault an employee.

The woman quit sometime in March and he had no issues with her in the past, according to Muhametaj, who added he could now see how she had been “scheming” and “asking certain questions” and was “very well-organized.”

“It’s nothing but modern day extortion,” Muhametaj said, though, when asked if the woman had demanded money, Muhametaj said he had not spoken with her.

Muhametaj said he does not have an office and has six cameras around the restaurant that will show he did not sexually assault the woman.

He also denied sexually harrassing any other employees and said he had not heard of any such complaints to police.

Other indictments include:

• Ivan Andrew Aguilar, possession of a controlled substance, less than a gram.

• Joshua Adam Carmack, possession of a controlled substance, more than 1 gram, less than 4 grams.

• Thomas Aubrey Claxton, possession of a controlled substance, less than 1 gram.

• Jamie Lynn Ford, aggravated sexual assault of a child.

• Margarita Guerrero, tampering with governmental records.

• Susan Stephenson Hasty, driving while intoxicated with a child under 15 years old.

• Christopher Ray Huff, unauthorized use of a vehicle.

• Edwin Eugene Millican Jr., possession of a controlled substance, less than a gram.

• Jose Isabel Mora, driving while intoxicated, third or more offense.

• Kenneth Roland Nelson, driving while intoxicated, third or more offense.

• Jeremy W. Rozell, driving while intoxicated, third or more offense.

• Wayne Jonathan Sharp, unathorized use of a motor vehicle.

• Jay Austin Wilkie, theft of property, more than $1,500, less than $20,000.