Police arrest suspected prowler accused of terrorizing midtown Sacramento
SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Police Department said Tuesday that investigators arrested a suspect tied to several reports, which spanned throughout 2020 and 2021, of a man prowling at midtown residences.
The suspect was identified as Juan Soto, 37. Sacramento police said he was arrested by county sheriff's deputies last October for a similar incident and remains in custody after prosecutors filed new charges related to five different cases with the police department.
Lindsay Leigh moved out of midtown Sacramento to find a new sense of safety after a serial creeper terrorized the neighborhood between 2020 and 2021.
"I just felt like I had to move out," Leigh said. "I bought a taser and bought pepper spray for the first time."
Soto is accused of terrorizing the midtown and Colonial park neighborhoods. Reports include a man trespassing on properties, looking through windows, and, in some instances, masturbating.
Investigators said DNA evidence collected from some of the scenes linked the same unknown offender. As Soto was already previously arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office for charges including attempted rape, the DNA samples later determined he was the same suspect, police said.
"I was really terrified it would escalate," Leigh said.
Police would not confirm Soto's photo. Surveillance video of a midtown creeper from a January 2021 CBS13 report shows a blurry image of a suspect. A crime victim from that report told CBS13 she recently received a call from prosecutors that there was an arrest in her case.
The man in the surveillance video was seen looking in women's windows, and in one case, even breaking into a woman's home.
"He took her phone while she was in the shower, wrote something in Spanish of a sexual nature," Leigh said.
The midtown creeper also left women's underwear at victims' doors.
Besides the attempted rape, Soto is also facing seven other charges including burglary, indecent exposure of private parts, and peeking in doors and windows.
Soto is due in court on February 10. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
Sacramento police encourage anyone with information related to Soto or the incidents to contact the department.
