Man arrested in connection to attempted murder, sexual assault of Carmel woman in driveway
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. (KION)
UPDATE 5/8/2020 1:05 a.m. A man has turned himself in to Salinas police for the sexual assault and attempted murder of a Carmel woman.
Police said the man is 20-year-old Isaac Jesus Garcia of Salinas. He was arrested at around 4 p.m. Thursday. He is booked into the Monterey County jail on attempted murder, sexual assault and assault with a deadly weapon charges.
The assault happened at around 7 a.m. Monday at a home near 13th and Scenic Drive. Police said a 61-year-old woman was loading items into her vehicle when a man approached her in her driveway.
Police said he told her to be quiet before starting to hit her with his fists and a handgun, knocking her to the ground. They said he told her that he was going to kill her during the attack.
After that, two witnesses said they saw the suspect walking to a vehicle across the street from the woman's home and driving away. When they heard the woman calling for help, they provided aid until police and paramedics arrived. They were able to describe the suspect and vehicle to police.
"Our camera system gave us immediate information regarding the vehicle, license plate information and even a general description of the suspect. So it helped us speed this process up tremendously," said Chief Paul Tomasi, of the Carmel-by-the-Sea Police Department. "My thanks go out to this community for having the foresight and the trust in their police department to allow us to put up cameras. Without them, we'd still be working on this case."
Investigators were able to get video of the suspect vehicle and license number on Rio Road, and the vehicle was found on Amarillo Street in Salinas.
The Salinas SWAT team and Carmel police served multiple search warrants Tuesday evening, including one at a home on Amarillo Street.
Within two days, officers said they identified one suspect and kept in contact with family, who they said helped to get Garcia to turn himself in to Salinas police.
"The only thing I'm aware of is he does have a prior history, he has been involved in other violent crimes," said Chief Tomasi.
PREVIOUS STORY: Carmel police are looking for a man who allegedly violently attacked and sexually assaulted a woman in her own driveway.
KION learns a search warrant was served on Amarillo Way in Salinas Tuesday night, with Salinas Police and Carmel-by-The-Sea Police hoping to find the suspect. We're told the suspect was not there.
At around 7 a.m. Monday, police responded to a report of a 61-year-old woman who was attacked in the driveway of her home on 13th Avenue.
The woman was treated at the scene before being taken to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for more treatment. She has since been released.
Because of the extent of the woman's injuries, police are investigating the incident as attempted murder and sexual assault. They believe the suspect was trying to kill the victim.
Neighbors are shocked to hear of this violent attack in a neighborhood they normally feel safe in.
“I feel terrible for this woman. It’s very hard to believe that that happened here,” said Sibyl Johnson, a Carmel-By-The-Sea resident.
A witness described the suspect as a Hispanic man seen leaving the scene in a dark Nissan sedan.
“We don’t believe there was any relationship at all. We think this was completely random which makes it more frightening,” Carmel-By-The-Sea Police Chief Paul Tomasi said.
Police used a camera system to identify the suspect’s car from witness descriptions. There are 30 of them throughout the city which are used to help identify who’s coming in and who’s traveling out.
The camera system captures anytime you enter or exit the city on camera, and it has a license plate tracker.
“Within moments of this happening, we already had our suspect’s vehicle and knew what we were looking for,” Tomasi said.
They found the vehicle in Salinas and impounded it for evidence.
Police believe this is an isolated incident and say there is no continued threat to the community.
