Jailed man hit Maricopa County worker after trying to rape woman, records say

A man suspected of assaulting several Arizona State University women and who was caught by surveillance video trying to sexually assault a woman at a Phoenix holding facility now also stands accused of assaulting a Maricopa County employee, according to court records.

Justin Adrian Avery, 29, of Mesa, was indicted in April on 13 criminal counts, including 10 felonies, involving seven female accusers, according to documents obtained by The Arizona Republic. Avery has a hearing scheduled next week to determine if he has the mental competency to stand trial.

Court documents show Avery was also indicted April 25 in a Maricopa County holding facility case on suspicion of the Class 3 felony offense of attempt to commit sexual assault and the Cass 5 felony offense of aggravated assault with sexual motivation. The reported aggravated assault victim was someone Avery knew was a county employee acting in an official capacity, court documents said.

According to court documents, Avery was indicted April 22 on suspicion of eight felony counts and three misdemeanor counts in the ASU case. Those charges were:

On May 1, Avery pleaded not guilty to all the charges in both cases.

What do authorities say happened in the Phoenix facility?

According to a probable cause statement written by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Avery said during interrogation that he tried to "rape" a sleeping woman April 17 at the Maricopa County Intake, Transfer, and Release facility on South 28th Avenue near West Lower Buckeye Road.

He told an officer he reached his victim by crossing like a "spider" from the men's side of the court waiting area to the women's side, charging documents detailed.

The incident, as Avery described it, was corroborated by surveillance video and a pair of witnesses, according to charging documents. The video, according to court documents, showed Avery crawling adjacent to the detention officer's desk unobserved by the guard before he reached the woman. Avery lowered his jail-issued trousers and seemingly tried lowering the woman's pants, prompting a witness to yell at him to get off her, court filings said.

What is described in the charging documents aligns with what can be seen in surveillance video provided Thursday to The Republic by the Sheriff's Office in response to its public records request after an initial report by ABC 15 . The video lacked audio.

The woman who appears in the video said Avery's actions were unwanted, that she felt someone trying to lower her trousers and touching her buttocks, and that she heard someone say, "Hey, get off of her," according to charging documents.

The offense Avery is accused of committing against the county employee was not in the video released to The Republic and other media outlets. It was not immediately clear on Thursday what position the county employee held. In his interrogation, however, Avery said he would attack jail nurses and that if he were released, he would "rape" every girl, the court documents said.

How do authorities think the ASU case unfolded?

A probable cause statement filed April 16 by an ASU police detective described the nature of the crimes Avery was charged with when in custody at the county holding facility.

According to charging documents, police were investigating an assault on the afternoon of April 11 at the ASU parking garage in the area of East Tyler Street and South McAllister Avenue. The incident involved multiple victims, including one who provided a suspect description. Detectives apprehended Avery after security cameras tracked the suspect in the area of ASU's Hayden Library, court documents said.Later that evening, there were reports about more assaults with a description matching Avery, who was arrested following a positive identification by two victims, according to court documents.

The woman at the garage said Avery spit on her while she was in the driver's seat, grabbed her by the throat and pushed her into the passenger seat and tried groping her, charging documents said. She kicked him in his groin with her steel-toed boots, causing him to back off and walk away, according to court documents.

Shortly after, Avery walked to another part of the same parking garage and approached a second woman as she was getting into her vehicle, grabbing her car door and keeping her from shutting it, charging documents show. He climbed into the car as she sat in the driver's seat, kicking and screaming before she managed to escape. That's when Avery grabbed her arm and put his hand around her mouth before she broke his hold and fled, according to court documents.

Another woman told police she was walking in the area of the campus when Avery reached out to greet her and she ordered him to not touch her. She walked around him before he "poked" her under her waist, according to charging documents. Security video captured part of this incident, court documents said.

A fourth woman told police she was in the Hayden Library when Avery sat on the ottoman where her legs were resting as he began whispering "bathroom" about four times. He then touched her shin and made a sexually charged gesture with his hands and body, charging documents said.

Part of a fifth incident was recorded on the phone of a woman who told police Avery "groped" her after he asked her on a date and she declined, according to court documents. She threw water at him from her water bottle and fled, according to charging documents.

During police interrogation, Avery said he was at the locations where women reported the incidents and he admitted to striking a woman, court documents said. Avery said he was acting on his "needs," that "it doesn't matter" whether his advances were wanted, that he wanted to have sex with girls and was "a bit aggressive," charging documents show.

Avery admitted to forcing the first woman into her car, pulling the second out of her vehicle and restraining her and admitted to assaulting the other three women, according to court documents.

What's next for the suspect, what's his criminal history?

According to Maricopa County Superior Court records, Avery's next scheduled court date is Tuesday for a mental competency hearing. He had two such hearings in August, court records show.

Avery's defense attorney did not respond to requests for comment late Thursday afternoon.

Tempe police had a trespassing notice at Mill Avenue businesses against Avery and they had arrested him the day before the ASU incident on suspicion of touching a person's buttocks, court documents show. Mesa police said Avery was an investigative lead in at least one assault case, charging documents added.

According to charging documents, Avery was previously convicted of shoplifting and disorderly conduct fighting. He was homeless at the time of his arrest at ASU, court documents said.

Republic reporter Miguel Torres contributed to this .