Thread: Multiple deportee nabbed in string of SD sexual assualts

Suspect arrested in 2-year peeping and assault spree

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
12:39 p.m. February 23, 2007

SAN DIEGO – A man suspected of terrorizing women in a series of peeping incidents and sexual assaults in Pacific Beach over the past two years was taken into custody Thursday on immigration violations.

Eduardo Castillo Herrarte, 33, was arrested at 4 p.m. in Lemon Grove Thursday afternoon by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and San Diego police detectives who had conducted surveillance of his home on Bonita Street, San Diego police said.

Herrarte is suspected in at least 10 incidents since April in which an intruder broke into homes in the area of Grand Avenue west of Ingraham Street. He also is a suspect in similar incidents dating back to early 2005.

In two of the cases, women were sexually assaulted in their homes. Police would not detail the extent of those assaults.

All of the break-ins, and much of the peeping, occurred in the morning hours of 8 to 11 a.m.

“There was physical contact between the suspect and victims on two occasions,” said police Lt. Boyd Long, commander of the Northern Division. “The suspect actually entered homes through unlocked doors or windows.”

City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, whose district includes Pacific Beach, praised the apprehension and the cooperation between the community that led the arrest.

“Our community has been very concerned about this predator being on the loose,” Faulconer said. “In this type of crime, people were confronted in the privacy and safety of their own homes.”

Police praised a woman who as early as Feb. 28, 2005, noted a man acting suspiciously in her Pacific Beach neighborhood, thought he was peeping and took his picture. Officers later contacted the man, who turned out to be Herrarte. But detectives had insufficient evidence to connect to any crimes.

When reports of a peeper again surfaced in Pacific Beach last week, the same woman remembered her prior contact and again called police. She told detectives that she had seen the same man from 2005 in the area as recently as two months ago.

Police used the photograph and other information to make the arrest.

Herrarte, who is from Guatemala, has been working as a landscaper in Pacific Beach for at least 10 years.

Police used the announcement of the arrest to ask residents, especially those in the beach areas, to keep doors and windows locked, something many in those communities do not do.

Police also are seeking other victims and witnesses, and asked anyone who might have information on the case to call (85552-1700.

__________________________________________________ __

Police: PB Peeper In Custody

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police have arrested a man they believe is the so-called Pacific Beach Peeper.

According to police, the suspect is Eduardo Castillo Herrarte, 33. Officials said that he has been previously arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, solicitation of prostitution and has been deported at least twice.

Police said they arrested Herrarte at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Police said a break came in the case on Feb. 16, when a female resident of Pacific Beach called in to police, saying she thought she had seen a peeper in the area two years ago and had reported the incident to police in 2005. As a result, Herrarte was interviewed at that time, though no other actions were taken, said police.

Police said Friday that the tip caller had taken a picture of Herrarte at the time in the alleged act of peeping. She saved the picture and gave it to investigators. The witness also told officers she had seen Herrarte "as recently as two months ago."

San Diego police detectives contacted officials with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, who confirmed to police that Herrarte had been deported. After San Diego police located Herrarte, ICE agents arrested on an immigrations violation.

According to local news reports, this dispicable criminal alien with an extensive rap sheet and multiple deportations had been detained and questioned by San Diego Police, but because of insufficient evidence linking him to the sexual assaults and peeping tom crimes at the time, he was never charged for the charges he was clearly suspected of. Of course, as is usual for the ever diligent SDPD, they never inquired into his immigration status, so he was never turned over to ICE, but was let go, free to commit more crimes against innocent women.

If they had checked out his immigration status, which they refuse to do thanks to their gutless 'community policing' policy, they would have found out he was twice deported and back here illegally yet again, thus subject to federal charges for illegal re-entry, let alone immediate deportation.

Of course, the SDPD, led by the spineless, Hispandering police chief William Lansdowne, patted itself on the back in a public press conference, taking credit for finally capturing this scumbag after he had committed even more peeping and assault crimes.

Way to go SDPD, way to protect the community with your 'community policing' policy, sheer genius. How many more victims of illegal aliens will you let be terrorized because you don't want to offend the huge population of invaders and Hispanics in the county?

Peeper Plea Nov.2 2007

Last Update: 5:31 pm

Print Story | Email Story

An illegal immigrant pleaded guilty to charges related to a number of Peeping Tom and sexual assaults in Pacific Beach and will be sentenced to more than five years in state prison, a prosecutor said today.

Eduardo Castillo Herrarte, 33, was arrested in February, a week after authorities released a composite rendering of the perpetrator in a series of at least 10 crimes in the beach area.

He pleaded guilty yesterday to one count each of residential burglary and assault with intent to commit rape, and two counts of peeping.

Herrarte faces a stipulated sentence of five years and four months at a hearing Jan. 14.

A resident who had reported seeing a peeper in Pacific Beach in 2005 came forward again Feb. 16 with a photograph of the man, believing he resembled the new suspect sketch she'd seen on the news, police said.

The woman said she'd seen the same stranger in the area about two months before coming forward, police said.

Detectives said Herrarte had been interrogated two years earlier but was released for lack of evidence.

Police then got in touch with immigration officials, who assisted by detaining Herrarte -- who has been deported at least twice -- and taking a photograph of him for identification in the sex-crimes cases, police said.

Following his arrest Feb. 22, the Guatemala native, a landscaper who has worked in Pacific Beach for years, made statements that incriminated him in the crimes, police said.

Eight of the offenses in the 10-month series involved peeping through residential windows. In the other two cases, the perpetrator entered homes and "had physical contact" with the victims, police said.

http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.as ... a&rss=tick