A man who identified himself to police as an employee of Facebook was arrested Tuesday morning, following allegations of a June sexual assault in the suspect's home.
According to a press release from the Palo Alto Police Department, 27-year-old Yue Zhou was arrested at 7:50 a.m. Tuesday at his home on the the 4200 block of Wilkie Way in Palo Alto. At the time of his arrest, reports the Chron, "Zhou identified himself to police as a Facebook employee," an assertion backed up by "postings on social media" that say that he "has worked as a business analyst for Facebook since April."
Palo Alto police say that back on Friday June 24, a woman in her twenties alleges that "after she had gone to dinner with the suspect and other acquaintances, she had dropped the suspect off at his home. When she commented that she was tired, he invited her inside to have a glass of water and rest."
"When she agreed and went inside his home, he forcibly raped her," police say. "After the assault, he prevented her from leaving by holding a knife while telling her she could not go. After several hours had passed, the victim was able to get out of the home and drive away."
Speaking with ABC 7, which describes Zhou as "a Facebook engineer," Palo Alto Sgt. James Reifschneider says that the victim "essentially distracted him momentarily, and she was able to get out the front door to her car." According to Palo Alto police, no additional information on the victim is available for release at this time.
Following an investigation, police determined that the suspect in question was indeed Zhou, who the Chron reports is "is a graduate of Peking University and is the recipient of a master’s degree in management science and engineering from Columbia University."
After police "took him into custody without incident" Tuesday, Zhou was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail for rape by force, sexual battery, and false imprisonment, all of which are felonies. According to a spokesperson with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, as of Wednesday morning he remains in custody.