Sheriffs deputies in three counties are searching for a man they
alleged jumped into a woman’s car with a gun and forced her to
drive to an isolated spot, where he tried to rape her.
By Alia Wilson
Sheriffs deputies in three counties are searching for a man they alleged jumped into a woman’s car with a gun and forced her to drive to an isolated spot, where he tried to rape her.
The woman, in her mid-30s, was driving her van on Riverside Road near Highway 129 at 4 p.m. Friday when she stopped at an intersection. A man armed with a handgun and wearing white latex gloves jumped into the van and ordered her to drive for about two miles to a remote spot on Old Chittenden Road, according to deputies.
Once there, the man tried to sexually assault the woman, deputies alleged. The woman was hit in the head, but was able to kick and punch the man off her, according to deputies. The man ran in an unknown direction.
Deputies issued an alert in Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties and were still looking for the man late Friday.
The man was described as in his mid-20s to 30s, wearing a black jacket with the hood cinched around his face and dark jeans. The victim told deputies he had crooked teeth and bad body odor.
“It’s an unusual area in the sense that it’s not like a person being in their front yard and someone comes up behind them and grabs them,” Santa Cruz sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Carney said. “This is a rural area that’s not very populated. For someone to possibly premeditate something, this was an unusual place for it.”
Crime scene investigators helped deputies process the crime scene at Old Chittenden Road for about four hours Friday.
