A 41-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 35 years to life in prison for kidnapping and raping an on-again, off-again girlfriend in a parking lot in Orange.
Frank Medina was convicted Sept. 11 of rape, kidnapping, corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and attempted forcible rape, all felonies. Jurors also found a sentencing enhancement true for great bodily injury in a domestic violence incident.
A felony count of rape of an unconscious person was dismissed before jurors deliberated.
Police were called early Nov. 28, 2021, to 623 N. Main St. for a domestic disturbance, prosecutors said in a trial brief. A witness jogging in the area dialed 911 when he saw Medina punching the victim and “telling her to stay down,” prosecutors said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, the witness “narrated what he heard in real time,” prosecutors said.
When officers arrived, they saw Medina near a car in a dark corner of the lot “pulling his pants up” as the victim, naked from the waist down, screamed, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the woman, who was “hysterical” and “hyperventilating,” shouted, “He raped me! He was hurting me!”
The woman told investigators the two had been dating off and on again for 11 years, prosecutors said.
Medina picked her up earlier that evening to go to a bar in Anaheim, where they downed multiple beers before they went to another bar in Santa Ana, where they drank some more, prosecutors said.
“The pair were having a nice time together until (Medina) became aggravated and called” the victim a name “because he believed another male at the bar was looking” at her, prosecutors said.
The victim decided to leave about 12:30 a.m. and said her sister would pick her up, prosecutors said.
As they walked out and were near his car, Medina pushed her into his car and drove off, prosecutors said.
When the victim tried to bail out of the car at a stop sign, he reached over and slammed the door shut and hit her twice in the face. He punched her in the head multiple times after that during a 10-minute drive, prosecutors said.
When he stopped the car, he dragged her out by her legs with the victim banging her head on the pavement and losing consciousness for a moment, prosecutors said. When she came around, her leggings and underwear were taken off and the defendant was touching himself.
Though Medina failed in his attempts to arouse himself, he attacked her anyway, prosecutors said.
The victim was hospitalized for three days to be treated for a concussion, asphyxiation and injuries to her neck, prosecutors said.
The woman told police that he had attacked her multiple times and that there were restraining orders against him. She also said he had forced her to have sex with him more than 10 times, prosecutors said.
The woman also said that on Nov. 14, 2021, Medina ran her over with her own car, injuring her knee before driving her elsewhere and then forcing her to have sex with him, prosecutors said.