A San Benito County man was arrested around 2 p.m. today on
suspicion of raping a woman multiple times after he had bound the
40-year-old deaf and mute Watsonville woman in his home outside of
San Juan Bautista over the weekend. Around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, the
victim escaped through a window and started walking on Chittenden
Road toward Watsonville.
HOLLISTER
A San Benito County man was arrested around 2 p.m. today on suspicion of raping a woman multiple times after he had bound the 40-year-old deaf and mute Watsonville woman in his home outside of San Juan Bautista over the weekend.
Police allege that on Friday night, Roberto Carranza, 36, met with the victim and invited her to a party at his residence on Chittenden Road, near Aromas. Authorities said the two had gone out a couple of times in the past but that there was no indication they had been involved romantically.
Prior to leaving Watsonville, the victim grabbed a bag of personal items to take along. When the two arrived she was quickly bound and gagged and repeatedly raped over the course of the weekend, said Lt. Roy Iler with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office.
Around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, the victim escaped through a window and started walking on Chittenden Road toward Watsonville. A driver stopped after noticing she had looked “distraught and disheveled,” and proceeded to bring her to the Watsonville Police Department. Police detectives there determined, through the help of a sign language translator, that the crime had occurred in San Benito County. Investigators Ed Nino and Victor Casada with the local office were sent to take over the case from Watsonville police.
The victim was transported to a Bay Area hospital for treatment and forensic analysis, which authorities allege confirmed she had been sexually assaulted and that it had been done using a knife.
Authorities also learned the identity of the suspect and executed a search warrant of his residence, where authorities found the personal items she had brought to the house. Detectives learned where the man worked and went to the Watsonville-based produce company and arrested him without incident.
Carranza was arrested on suspicion of multiple rape counts, sodomy, false imprisonment and assault with a deadly weapon, and he was booked into the county jail.
