This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Police have arrested a man who allegedly kidnapped and raped a woman he picked up in Colorado, holding her captive until she escaped in Provo.
The woman, 19, told police she met Winston Lacourse, 49, Monday in Denver, when he offered her a ride to her cousin's home elsewhere in Colorado. Instead, she said, Lacourse drove her to Utah. When she asked him about the change in travel plans, Lacourse allegedly attacked her and told her she was going to stay with him, Provo police wrote in a news release Thursday.
The woman said Lacourse raped her at a rest stop on U.S. Highway 6 or Interstate 70, police wrote.
Lacourse kept the victim with him on Tuesday as he drove north and south on Interstate 15, stopping at a Walmart, police wrote. The woman said she had no chance to escape at the Walmart.
On Wednesday night, Lacourse drove to an open field near 100 North and 3000 West in Provo and raped the woman again, police wrote. He later fell asleep, and the woman ran to a nearby home and asked the residents to call police.
Officers found the man sleeping in a campsite next to his truck in the field, police wrote.
Lacourse, who is from Desert Hot Springs, Calif., was booked into the Utah County jail on suspicion of rape, police wrote. Officers are investigating potential kidnapping charges and other possible crimes at Walmart.