FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Alaska State Police have arrested and charged an employee at the La Quinta Inn on Dale Road in Fairbanks for allegedly sexually assaulting a guest last Saturday.
Charging documents filed Wednesday say 21-year-old Tristen Tinker tried to enter the woman’s room “five or six times” on Saturday, but the guest did not let him in.
Tinker is then said to have unlocked her room with his master key card and then sexually touched the customer over her clothing. He then forced her to have sex with him without her consent.
According to the documents, Tinker met the woman that morning but had only met her brother several months earlier. The woman said she had come to Fairbanks to pick up her brother and return with him to Mountain Village.
The woman’s brother had left the hotel to meet his girlfriend before the alleged assault occurred. According to the indictment, her brother was still not present at the time of the assault.
Police found that Tinker was on probation for a second-degree assault conviction in August 2022 and was living at Northstar Center, a halfway house on Parks Highway near Ester. Tinker pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in July 2023, according to court records obtained by CourtView.
After police contacted the Northstar Center, staff informed them that Tinker had been taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital (FMH) for an injury.
According to the course of events in the indictment, Tinker apparently sustained this injury during the sexual assault.
When police encountered Tinker at the FMH, he reportedly admitted to touching the woman and forcing her to have sex with him on a bed in the hotel room, telling officers he was “overwhelmed by the situation” and “went too far.”
Tinker was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual assault and two counts of second-degree sexual assault.
Newscenter Fairbanks reached out to staff at the LaQuinta Inn on Thursday, but managers declined a request for comment for this story.
Download the Newscenter Fairbanks apps today and stay up to date with the latest news and weather alerts.
All rights reserved.
