RICHMOND — A San Pablo man is facing charges that he kidnapped two women and held a third against her will over the course of a month, alleged crimes that were investigated after one woman reported being kidnapped at gunpoint and sexually assaulted over two days.
Jorge Rodas, 42, faces two counts of kidnapping, three counts of rape, multiple counts of forcible oral copulation, as well as robbery, false imprisonment and battery charges, court records show. Next week, he is set to go before a superior court judge for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will present evidence and try to convince a judge to order Rodas to stand trial.
The investigation started last August, when a woman — known in court files only as Jane Doe 1 — reported that Rodas showed up to the homeless encampment where she lived, gun in hand, and forced her into his Ford pickup truck. She reported that over the next two days, Rodas raped and sexually assaulted her multiple times, force-fed her methamphetamine, and took her to a Home Depot in Vallejo where he forced her to steal items on his behalf, court records show.
The woman said she knew Rodas only as “Rigo” but identified him from a photo lineup, according to police. She didn’t file a report with police until Aug. 12, a week after she said Rodas let her go.
But a week after that, at around 10 p.m. on Aug. 20, a second woman came forward in a notable way: she flagged down a passing motorist on 24th Street in Richmond, and asked for a ride to the San Pablo Police Department. Once there, she told investigators she was a sex worker who’d been kidnapped by a man earlier that evening, who she knew as “Rico.”
The man negotiated a $100 fee for a “date” with her, but after they had sex, he became angry and used a stun gun on her when she attempted to get out of the truck. The attacker then bound her with plastic tie downs and kept her in the backseat, but she was able to jump from the moving car and run, leaving her purse and cellphone behind, she told authorities.
Police reviewed license plate readers in the area and found that Rodas’ truck had passed through an intersection she described the attacker’s pickup truck passing through, police said in court records.
Later that evening, a second woman came forward and reported that Rodas had picked her up near 28th Street and Gaynor Avenue, and sexually assaulted her “while tasing her and pointing a handgun at her,” investigators wrote in court filings. Rodas allegedly took her clothing, purse, and cellphones before kicking her out of his truck.
Rodas remains in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to jail records.
Source: www.mercurynews.com