Man charged after Fayetteville police stop attack at motel

Police officers were helping a family get a room for the night at the Tropical Motel, at 4036 Bragg Boulevard, around 2 a.m. Tuesday when they were notified of a woman screaming for help in another room.

In a news release, a police department spokesperson said that officers who responded to the room could hear what appeared to be a physical altercation going on and a woman crying for help.

When an officer knocked on the door of the room, the man inside told them they would need a warrant to come inside. Officials said the officers could see the man assaulting a woman through the window and could see that he had forced her into a bathroom and would not let her leave.

Officers tried to force the door open, but officials said it was barricaded, so they broke the window to enter the room.

Travan Richardson, 35, was taken into custody and officers requested medical help for the woman, a 28-year-old who they said had serious injuries.

Richardson was charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted first-degree rape, assault by strangulation, and first-degree kidnapping. He was being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center under $1,000,000 bond.

Police said that the incident was the result of a domestic dispute that stemmed from Richardson and the woman being arrested on Sept. 29 for common law robbery. Richardson and the woman, who both live at the motel, were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets as a condition of their bond release in that case.