Men skip rape trial, must pay accuser $2.5 million

TACOMA -- Two men accused of rape in a civil lawsuit were ordered to pay their accuser $2.5 million in damages after failing to show up for their own defense.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Vicki Hogan issued the default judgment after Richy D. Carter and Michael Dolajak failed to show up for a civil trial, The News Tribune of Tacoma reported.

Court documents said the judgment was based on "extensive emotional and physical distress" caused to the alleged victim. Hogan also dismissed the civil case against a third alleged attacker, whom the newspaper did not name.

The woman, identified as "L.S." in court filings, accused Carter, Dolajak and the third man of raping her in 2003, after the four spent several hours drinking together.

The woman said she met Carter a day earlier at Mallon Ford in Tacoma, where the three men worked.

She filed a police report the night of the alleged incident, but none of the men was ever charged.

Pierce County authorities never brought charges because they determined there wasn't enough evidence for a criminal case, prosecutor Gerry Horne said Tuesday.

The woman also has settled out of court with Mallon Ford for $100,000, closing a lawsuit that claimed the dealership was negligent in hiring Carter because of a previous assault conviction.