A mentally disabled 19-year-old man was raped in a Miller Park
bathroom early Wednesday morning, police said.
Gyasi Terran is wanted by the Gilroy Police Department for
sodomy, police said. Terran is black, stands 6-feet tall and weighs
200 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, police said.
Also with this story: a video of the crime scene and a map of
where the incident occurred.
A mentally disabled 19-year-old man was raped in a Miller Park bathroom early Wednesday morning, police said.
Gyasi Terran is wanted by the Gilroy Police Department for sodomy, police said. Terran is black, stands 6-feet tall and weighs 200 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, police said.
About 2:30 a.m., Terran met the teen at 7-Eleven on First Street, but it is unclear if the man knew the teen previous to this encounter, police said. The store’s owner, Van Nguyen, said the victim comes into his store regularly, but the employee who was on duty early this morning was unavailable for comment.
“I’ve seen the kid before,” Nguyen said late Wednesday morning. “He comes in here a lot.”
The man and the teen then walked about two blocks away to a bathroom in the park, 7851 Carmel St., between First and Second streets, across the street from Brownell Middle School. Shortly thereafter, the teen returned to the 7-Eleven and asked the clerk to call 911. On the phone, he told police he had been raped.
The rape took place in the women’s bathroom, which was unlocked at the time, police said. The locks on both the women’s and men’s doors appeared intact Wednesday afternoon. The city employee in charge of locking and unlocking the doors did not immediately return calls asking why the Miller Park doors were unlocked and whether that was normal.
Police set up a crime scene early Wednesday morning, and just before noon, crime scene tape sat bundled in the metal trash can outside the men’s room. Latex gloves and a DNA swab wrapper were in the metal can outside the women’s bathroom.
Police did not know where the teen lived or the extent of his cognitive abilities and also declined to comment as to why he was out during the middle of the night.
“I will not comment on why the victim was out at this time in the morning. This crime was not the fault of the victim,” wrote Sgt. Jim Gillio in an e-mail.
Police do not believe the man was involved in any of the stranger rapes that occurred last year, Gillio said. This incident differs from he 2007 rapes because the teen was a male, it did not occur near the levee and the style of approaching the victim was different.
Gilroy police are actively seeking additional information. Anyone who locates the suspect can call 911 and witnesses with more information can contact Detective Michael Beebe at 846-0350.
More on this developing story will be posted as details become available.
