San Rafael Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Dragged Woman Into Bushes, Tried To Rape Her
SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) -- San Rafael police arrested a man Tuesday afternoon suspected of assaulting a woman with intent to rape her, a police lieutenant said.
The woman and her male cousin were sitting on a park bench at the Baypoint walking trail along San Rafael Bay around 2 p.m. when a man engaged them in conversation, Lt. Raffaello Pata said.
When the man and woman started to leave, the suspect, identified by police as Israel Abisai Rachac-Marroquin, 27, of San Rafael, became agitated, Pata said.
The suspect touched the woman and asked her to have sex with him, Pata said. When she refused, he grabbed her by the hair and tried to pull her into some tall bushes.
The suspect also tried to lift some of the woman's clothes to sexually assault her, and threatened the woman's cousin with a knife when he intervened and said he would kill them both, Pata said.
The victim's cousin called police and the suspect left before police arrived, Pata said.
The woman's cousin saw Rachac-Marroquin around 5 p.m. at the Bellam Produce Market at 151 Bellam Blvd and called police, Pata said.
Rachac-Marroquin was arrested on suspicion of assault with intent to commit rape and making criminal threats, Pata said.
Police are investigating similarities between this incident and other crimes in the area and are asking help from witnesses, Pata said.