Two men were arrested this week on sexual assault and other charges in unrelated cases, with witnesses on a San Francisco Muni helping to identify one of the suspects.
The San Francisco incident occurred Wednesday night, when witnesses on a bus on Market Street saw a 60-year-old woman being assaulted, and yelled for the driver to stop so they could help her. As KTVU reports, the Good Samaritans got off the bus on the 900 block of Market Street around 6:30 p.m. and found the woman unconscious. Officers from Tenderloin Station arrived soon after and the woman was taken to the hospital.
The witnesses described a male suspect in his 40s wearing dark clothing, and after obtaining surveillance video of him, police were able to locate the suspect hours later, around 1 a.m. Thursday, on Golden Gate Avenue. 41-year-old Fidel Padilla was taken into custody and will face multiple charges including sexual assault, according to the Associated Press.
Oakland police also made an arrest this week in a separate series of sexual assault incidents that began on November 30 near Lake Merritt. As the Chronicle reports, the OPD has arrested and charged 20-year-old Isaiah Meleke Lawrence, and they believe he was responsible for attacking a 23-year-old woman two weeks ago.
The first incident happened around 9:20 p.m. on November 30, when Lawrence allegedly approached the victim and demanded her wallet at gunpoint. The victim had no cash on her, and he then allegedly attempted to assault her and was dragging her on the ground when a neighbor intervened and scared Lawrence off.
Later that night, Lawrence allegedly succeeded in assaulting and robbing another woman whom he approached on Vernon Street and Moss Avenue, forcing her into a car. After assaulting her, he reportedly drove her to Bank of the West at 3400 Lakeshore Avenue and demanded she withdraw money from the ATM. After she was unable to withdraw cash, she reportedly walked inside the bank and asked for help, and Lawrence drove off.
A third victim, whom Lawrence allegedly attempted to assault back in July in downtown Oakland, also identified him in recent weeks.
Oakland police say that after arresting Lawrence, they also recovered a firearm.