A San Juan Bautista man was arrested and booked into the San
Benito County Jail Wednesday for the alleged kidnapping and rape of
a 21-year-old Chinese exchange student last August, according to
police.
Hollister – A San Juan Bautista man was arrested and booked into the San Benito County Jail Wednesday for the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 21-year-old Chinese exchange student last August, according to police.
Zhiyu Liang, 30, was arrested by Mountain View police Monday on an arrest warrant for felony rape, kidnapping, penetration with a foreign object and oral copulation in conjunction with a crime that occurred in Hollister last summer, said Hollister Police Detective Sgt. James Weathers. He was extradited to San Benito County Wednesday because the rape, the most serious of the crimes, was committed in Hollister, Weathers said. Liang’s offenses spanned across San Benito, Santa Clara and Fresno counties.
Weathers said the incident began in August of last year when Liang posted a classified advertisement on the Fresno City College Website that he was selling a car. The victim, a 21-year-old Chinese exchange student going to school in Fresno, answered the ad, he said.
The two met near the woman’s home in Fresno to go for a test drive, and while in the car Liang allegedly kidnapped her and forced her to drive to Hollister. Weathers said Liang checked into the Hollister Inn on the night of Aug. 4 and kept the woman there against her will, although police do not believe he used a weapon anytime during the incident.
“Through the course of the night he digitally penetrated her, orally copulated her and raped her,” Weathers said.
The next morning Liang drove to San Jose, where at one point the woman was able to jump out of the car and make her way to a nearby construction site, he said. From there she was able to contact police, but by that time Liang was nowhere to be found, Weathers said.
After taking the victim’s statement and learning the crime was committed in three different jurisdictions, San Jose police contacted detectives in Hollister and they collected evidence from the crime scene at the motel room last summer, Weathers said.
An arrest warrant was issued for Liang’s arrest, but Hollister police couldn’t locate him at his home at 1100 Bixby Rd. in San Juan Bautista, he said. Liang’s family members said he usually stays in the San Jose area, however San Jose and Fresno police came up empty handed as well.
Liang evaded police for six months until Mountain View police officers stumbled upon him at a hotel last week, said Jim Bennett, Mountain View police spokesman. A patrol officer was checking license plates in the parking lot of the Hotel Lodge in Mountain View around 10:30pm on Feb. 19, he said. A check on Liang’s black Honda civic came back that he had an arrest warrant out of San Benito County, Bennett said. Liang was arrested without incident and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail, he said.
After reviewing the case, members of the three county’s district attorney’s offices agreed to try the case in San Benito County because the most serious of the crimes – the sexual assault – occurred in Hollister, Weathers said.
Weathers said detectives haven’t been able to locate the victim to tell her Liang is in custody and they are unsure if she is still in the country.
“We’re trying to get ahold of her,” he said. “We’re working on that today (Thursday).”
However, because a sexual assault test was performed on her when she reported the crime and evidence was collected from the crime scene, the district attorney’s office should be able to prosecute the case without her testimony in court, Weathers said.
Liang is being held at the San Benito County Jail and was scheduled to be arraigned at the San Benito County Superior Court Thursday, according to court personnel.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
em*******@fr***********.com
