2 Arrested In Kidnapping, Beating, Rape Of Ride-Hailing Customer In San Francisco
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- Two men have been arrested for allegedly abducting a woman from a San Francisco street corner in April and taking her to Sonoma County where she was sexually assaulted and severely beaten, authorities announced Monday.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department said 33-year-old Fredi Analberto Lopez-Flores of Novato and 24-year-old Christian Alejandro May Quintero of Sonoma were being held in the Sonoma County Jail on numerous sex crimes and assault charges.
Lopez-Flores was being held on $2 million bail while Quintero was being held without bail due to an attempted murder charge associated with this case.
Investigators said the incident took place early on the morning of Saturday, April 14th. It began when a San Francisco woman got into what she thought was a ride sharing car after leaving Bruno's Bar on the corner of Stanyan Street and Fulton Street.
Quintero allegedly got out of the car and forced the victim into the back seat of Lopez-Flores' car where he violently beat and attacked her all the way to Sonoma. Once they got to Quintero's neighborhood, they pulled over in a shopping center across from Safeway where Quintero continued to attack and sexually assault her.
The victim eventually escaped and was aided by a Safeway employee.
Detectives investigating the case reviewed countless hours of surveillance video from various businesses and bridge cameras. In watching the video they identified one suspect who was seen at about the time of the crime, entering a gas station across the street from the crime scene in Sonoma. In this video he was seen purchasing a condom.
Detectives also wrote numerous search warrants during the course of the investigation. One key warrant was for the victim's cellular phone which provided data telling detectives approximately when she crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. Detectives used that information and wrote a warrant for Golden Gate Bridge District surveillance video which was ultimately supplied.
While watching that video, detectives observed a black Dodge Magnum car with a specific blue neon license plate light. This Dodge Magnum with the neon light was also captured on video from various business surveillance systems in Sonoma.
Detectives put out a flier to local law enforcement agencies using a picture of the suspect in the gas station and the Dodge Magnum with the neon light. An officer from the Novato Police Department recognized the suspect and distinctive vehicle from a recent unrelated arrest where he towed the suspect's car.
Novato Police identified the suspect as Lopez-Flores.
Detectives wrote a search warrant for Lopez-Flores' cellular phone company which gave them important location records. These records indicated that Lopez-Flores was in San Francisco on the morning of April 14 and in the area where the victim was forced into the car.
He also drove north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sonoma.
Detectives obtained enough probable cause to determine that Lopez-Flores was the driver of the suspect vehicle and they obtained a $2 million warrant for his arrest. He was arrested on Friday in San Rafael where he works doing general labor.
Detectives also determined that Lopez-Flores was with his friend Quintero that morning. Quintero lives about a block away from where the violent attack occurred in Sonoma.
Detectives served a search warrant on Quintero's home where physical evidence of the crime was located. He was arrested at workplace in Sonoma on Saturday.
