A 43-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman while giving her a ride home from a nightclub was arrested in Fullerton on Sunday morning, police said.
Jose Antonio Rodriguez of Anaheim was arrested following a brief search after the woman jumped out of his car just before 3 a.m. and reported the alleged attack to a nearby Placentia police officer.
While on patrol, the officer saw a female passenger in a vehicle repeatedly try to exit a moving car that was being driven on Placentia Avenue near Chapman Avenue, said Placentia police Lt. Eric Point.
The officer made a traffic stop, with the vehicle pulling over in the parking lot of a restaurant at the intersection of Placentia and Chapman, he said.
“The female in the vehicle immediately exited the car and ran back to the officer,” Point said. “The woman proceeded to tell the officer that she was the victim of a sexual assault and the driver in the vehicle was the suspect.”
As the woman spoke to the officer, the suspect drove from the scene, heading west on Chapman Avenue into Fullerton, he said.
Officers in the Anaheim Police Department’s helicopter were monitoring radio transmissions, spotted the vehicle in the area of Acacia Drive and Wilshire Avenue in Tustin and directed ground units to the location, Point said.
“The suspect was located near his parked vehicle lying on the ground in the front yard of a residence,” the lieutenant said. “He surrendered when confronted by the officers.”
Investigators learned that Rodriguez met the woman at an Anaheim Hills-area nightclub and offered her a ride home after her purse and cell phone had been stolen, Point said.
“It was during the trip into Placentia when Rodriguez began to sexually assault the woman,” he said. “She attempted to exit the car several times, but her efforts were thwarted by Rodriguez.”
After he was positively identified by the victim, Rodriguez was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping for the purpose of a sex crime and other sexual assault offenses, Point said.
He was booked into the Orange County Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, Point said.
Anyone with information about the case was urged to contact Placentia police detectives at (714) 993-8146.
— City News Service