Two men were charged Monday with raping an intoxicated woman in Newport Beach.
Kayden Elijah King and Jimmy Price, both 23, were charged with rape by use of drugs and rape, both felonies. Price was also facing a sentencing enhancement for committing a crime while out on bail in a separate case.
King and Price pleaded not guilty were scheduled to return to court March 24 for a pretrial hearing at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
Price was out on bail in an attempted murder case out of Anaheim. He is also facing sentencing enhancements in that Aug. 6, 2024, shooting for inflicting great bodily injury on a victim, discharge of a gun and attempted premeditated murder.
The two men were charged with attacking a woman Thursday and were arrested about 2 a.m. at 26th Street and Balboa Boulevard, said Heather Rangel, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department. She declined to provide any other details saying it was an “ongoing investigation.”
The criminal complaint alleges the attack was done with “sophistication and professionalism” because they took the victim’s cell phone and hid it after fleeing the scene.
King has a lengthy criminal history, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in July 2023 to a felony count of burglary and misdemeanor counts of carrying a dirk or dagger, as well as possession of drugs and a drug paraphernalia.
In October of last year he was granted mental health pretrial diversion in a domestic violence case involving a girlfriend, according to court records.
King’s mother twice sought restraining orders against him.
King “has a history of mental illness and drug abuse,” his mother wrote in a restraining order request in February 2024. “He has recently made threats to me, my other children and my boyfriend.”
When his phone service was disconnected, he allegedly threatened to make a false allegation to her boss if she didn’t get it turned back on, she alleged.
King was diagnosed with mental health issues at the age of 6 and has been hospitalized multiple times, his mother said. She said at one point he told her to kill herself and said, “He hopes I get raped and die.”
King started abusing methamphetamine and fentanyl when he was 16 and has gone through “multiple rehabilitation programs,” she said.
In both cases, the restraining order requests were dismissed when no one showed up for the court hearings, according to court records.