House painter charged in sex attack after break-in at Hamptons home

SOUTHAMPTON, Long Island (WABC) -- A house painter is charged with sexually assaulting a woman after breaking into a home in the Hamptons.

The attack happened Friday morning in Southampton.

Police say a 19-year-old woman was choked and sexually assaulted before she escaped and ran outside as her attacker chased her with a baseball bat.

20-year-old Marvin Saul Siciliano-Nunez of Hampton Bays was arrested nearby. He was ordered held on $2 million bail.

Siciliano-Nunez was charged with burglary, sexual abuse, criminal sex act and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, Southampton Village Detective Sgt. Herman Lamison said in a release.

The crime was unusual in an area where tall shrubbery and fences prevent passing motorists from seeing much inside its multimillion dollar estates. Southampton is among a string of towns known as the Hamptons on the eastern tip of the largest island off the coast of the United States.

It's a summer playpen for the wealthy, famous and powerful and is in the midst of its busiest season until Labor Day.

The New York Post reported Sunday that Siciliano-Nunez told Southampton Village Court Judge Barbara Wilson on Saturday that his $2 million bail would prevent his release before trial.

"I could never pay that amount of money," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "I'd rather go to jail."

Lamison, Southampton Village Police commanding officer of criminal investigations, said police believe Siciliano-Nunez stole jewelry, a cellphone and a skateboard from a pool house on the property before entering the main house and finding the woman asleep in a bedroom. He said the defendant threatened the woman with bodily harm if she did not comply with his demands.

Summoned by an emergency call Friday, police set up a perimeter and an officer spotted Siciliano-Nunez walking along a street about a tenth of a mile from the home where the attack occurred, Lamison said. When the officer approached, Siciliano-Nunez ran and was taken into custody after a chase that was joined by another officer, he said.

Police said Siciliano was arrested on a felony gang assault charge in May and was believed to have ties to the MS-13 gang. Those charges are still pending.

The victim of the sexual assault was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead for treatment, police said.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)