Walnut Creek Apartment Complex Rape Suspect Arraigned
WALNUT CREEK (BCN) -- A man charged with raping a woman at an apartment complex in unincorporated Walnut Creek in September told a judge during his arraignment in Martinez Monday afternoon that he is innocent.
William Yokeum, 51, is facing eight felony charges—including burglary, forcible rape, forcible sodomy, three counts forcible oral copulation and two counts forcible penetration with a foreign object—in connection with a Sept. 16 assault of a 27-year-old woman at the Park Regency apartment complex at 3128 Oak Road.
Yokeum and the victim both lived at the apartment complex, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
Deputy District Attorney Dara Cashman said Yokeum's DNA connected him to the crimes. Prosecutors filed charges Friday, she said.
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Harlan Grossman gave Yokeum a copy of the charges during his arraignment today but warned him he might not want to bring the document back to jail.
"I've done nothing so I'm in fear of nothing," Yokeum said.
Later, however, Yokeum said he was in protective custody in the jail and had already been punched in the face once.
"Word gets out. I don't know how," he said.
During the hearing, Yokeum also asked if he could take a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
Grossman referred him to the public defender's office for representation and scheduled him to return to court Oct. 28 to be assigned an attorney and enter a plea.
His bail has been set at $1.6 million.
Cashman said Yokeum and the victim both frequented the same local establishment, where they were both known, but that the two didn't necessarily know each other.
The apartment complex has been the site of several other assaults over the summer, but investigators do not believe they are connected to the attack Yokeum is accused of committing.
Berkeley resident Antonio Mouton, 22, has been arrested in connection with a rape and two attempted rapes in June, July and August. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Investigators are still searching for another man who is believed to have tried to force his way into a woman's apartment on Oct. 2, allegedly with the intent to rape her.
Anyone with information about the attacks is asked to call the sheriff's office at (925) 313-2620.
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