Jul 26, 2015 2 min read

An Uzbekistan national was arrested Saturday by North Strabane Township police after he allegedly sexually assaulted a co-worker at a Meadowlands Boulevard hotel.

Zarifbek Nomozov, 26, of Pittsburgh, is accused of pressing his body against a housekeeper at Country Inn & Suites about 5 p.m. Saturday as the two rode in an elevator at the hotel. Township police Officer Jonathan Miles, who filed the charges, said he is a contract worker while the alleged victim is an employee of the hotel.

“They were alone together in the elevator going to a floor to finish some work when he pressed his body against her, pushed her against the back wall of the elevator and started kissing her neck,” Miles said. “She pushed him away once and he leaned into her again. There was no warning, and she didn’t want the attention.”

When the elevator door opened, he turned around and exited, moving his bin and cart out of the elevator. When he asked her how many more rooms she had to do and what floor she would be working on, she refused to tell him, Miles said. She told police she had no previous contact with him and only knew him as “Zarif.”

After telling a front desk employee what happened, the woman called her boyfriend who picked her up. The woman initially reported the incident to Chartiers Township police who notified North Strabane police and had them meet her at a nearby business. Police said she was distraught. Her hair was disheveled and it appeared she had been crying.

Miles said Nomozov, who has been in the United States since last year, would not tell police if he was in the country legally. Nomozov had no identification. He was taken to state police station inside The Meadows Casino, where his fingerprints were checked through the Live Scan system, but there were no immediate results. The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified.

Nomozov was arraigned before District Judge Joshua Kanalis on a charge of indecent assault and placed in Washington County jail on $25,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 5 before District Judge Jay Weller.