Brea : Tustin Man Arrested in Connection With Rape
A 21-year-old Tustin man was arrested Monday in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old girl at a health club, police said.
Daryl John Merino, 21, was arrested at his home at about 3:30 a.m., Brea Police Lt. Bill Lentini said.
The unidentified teen-ager was attending a Super Bowl party at the Family Fitness Center at 18200 Yorba Linda Blvd., where she met the man for the first time, Lentini said. The man allegedly gave the girl alcohol before raping her at about 5:30 p.m., he said.
Lentini said Merino was arrested as a suspect in the sexual assault based on “witnesses’ accounts and evidence at the scene.”
He said officers first tried to arrest Marino at home on Sunday, but the young man escaped through a back door. Police returned early Monday with a search warrant and made the arrest.
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