Driver Chokes Hitchhiker, Leaves Her for Dead
A 27-year-old El Cajon woman who was hitchhiking in Alpine was choked and possibly raped Monday by a man who picked her up, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Ron Morse said.
The woman was picked up by a man in a red sports car at 3:45 p.m. on Tavern Road near Interstate 8, according to Morse.
The suspect told the woman that he was driving to El Centro to pick up a friend who had been hang-gliding, Morse said. The man turned off the road and drove into a mountainous area where he parked and both got out of the car, Morse said. The woman told deputies that the man came up behind her and choked her until she was unconscious, according to Morse.
After she awoke several hours later, she was found by a man and woman who had been hang-gliding nearby and had heard her screams, said Morse.
The woman told deputies that she believed she had been raped while unconscious.
If caught, the man will be charged with attempted murder because deputies believe he left the woman for dead, Morse said.
The woman was taken to Grossmont Hospital, where she was treated and released.
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