Rape victim, 66, identifies assailant in Allston, police say
Man arrested after foot chase
By Maria Cramer
September 4, 2009


It was recycling day in Allston last Thursday and the 66-year-old woman got up early to collect cans she planned to return for cash.
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At around 5:30, a slight, clean-shaven man she had seen in the neighborhood before rode up to her on his scooter and told her of a place nearby where she could find more cans, prosecutors said yesterday. Instead, he lured her to an alley near Gardner Street and Harvard Avenue, where he suddenly turned on her, beating her about the head and face, and then raping her, according to law enforcement officials.

Yesterday morning, one week later and almost at the same time the assault took place, the victim led police to her alleged attacker. The suspect was walking just a few blocks from where police said she was raped.

The woman identified Jose Sariano Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Allston man, as her attacker and police ran after him. Gonzalez tried to get away, police said, but the officers arrested him after wrestling with him.

A Brighton District Court judge ordered that he be held on $250,000 cash bail. He pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, assault and battery on a person over 60, and resisting arrest, said Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. Little was known yesterday about Gonzalez, who is from El Salvador and lives close to where the alleged assault took place.

“She’s a very brave victim,’’ Elaine Driscoll, police spokeswoman, said of the woman. “Her cooperation was critical to the successful apprehension of the suspect.’’

For days, police had followed a similar routine, scouring the area from late evening until early morning in the hope the rapist might return to the crime scene, Driscoll said. On at least one of those occasions, the woman had joined them during their search, Driscoll said.

Yesterday, at about 5:30 a.m. the woman was riding in a police vehicle with officers from Brighton and the sexual assault unit when they spotted Gonzalez walking down Brighton Avenue.

Police did not identify the woman, who lives in the Allston area. Globe policy is not to name sexual assault victims without their consent. Driscoll said the woman did not know Gonzalez, but had seen him in her neighborhood in the past.

“She said she had seen him lurking around that area before,’’ Driscoll said.

Gonzalez was ordered to surrender his passport, Wark said. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ordered Gonzalez detained so they can determine whether he should be deported. It was unclear yesterday whether Gonzalez was in the country legally.

Even if he posts bail, Gonzalez would still be held by federal officials, Wark said.

Gonzalez could not be reached yesterday, nor could the lawyer who represented him, Rudge S. McKenney. Gonzalez does not have a criminal record in Massachusetts, but officials are trying to find out whether he has one elsewhere, Wark said.

Gonzalez was also charged with receiving stolen property after police found him with a stolen credit card belonging to another woman, Wark said. That charge does not appear to be related to the case, he said.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.



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