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Workers At DIA Ran To Help Assault Victim

DENVER (CBS4) - One of the two mechanics credited with helping a woman under assault on Tuesday at Denver International Airport is now describing the frightening incident.

Kris Musil, a Frontier employee, told CBS4 he and fellow mechanic Mark Adams could tell something was wrong right away on Concourse A while they were out on the tarmac after midnight.

Musil said he saw a man doing something that did not look right. He couldn't tell what it was at first glance, but then he saw someone's hair.

"It looked like there was a man bent over, who had a hold of something and was smashing it into the ground. Then we saw hair flying up and I looked at Mark and said 'Let's go,'" he said.

Musil and Adams ran through the jetway to find the woman on the ground and the man police say was Noel Bertrand standing over her.

Bertrand-Noel
Noel Bertrand (credit: Denver Police Dept.)

"Mark got there a few seconds before me and I heard him say 'Knock it off.' (The suspect) kind of backed up to the window and kind of put his hands up up a little bit. He said 'I'm gonna go.'"

Musil and Adams then held the suspect until police arrived.

Musil told CBS4 the man was saying some strange things.

"He said 'There's a difference between fighting and sex.' I said, 'This isn't the place for any of it.' He said 'Fair enough' and just put his hands up and stood back by the window."

The woman had arrived at DIA from Portland but apparently missed a flight. She told police she went to a bar and had drinks with a man she met, who followed her out.

"She was hysterical, crying," Musil said. "She was trying to talk but she couldn't really talk."

The woman did, however, manage to show her gratitude to the two strangers.

"She mouthed thank you to (Adams)," Musil said.

Bertrand, 26, was in court Wednesday on suspicion of sexual assault. The former Marine Embassy Guards is from Portland. He is being held on a $50,000 bond.

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