LOCAL : Suspect Seized in I-5 Assault
A Newhall man was in custody today after a motorist followed him from the scene of a sexual assault on a woman whose car had broken down on the Golden State Freeway.
Pedro Sanchez, 20, was arrested in Sylmar Monday on suspicion of attempted rape and was being held in lieu of $12,000 bail at the Devonshire Division Jail, Lt. Harvie Eubank said.
Eubank said a car belonging to a 21-year-old Palmdale woman broke down on the northbound shoulder of the freeway, just south of the Antelope Valley Freeway interchange.
The woman called the California Highway Patrol and her boyfriend on an emergency phone. While she waited for help, a car with four men stopped nearby, police said. Sanchez allegedly attacked the woman after she told him she did not need help, police said.
The assault ended when the woman’s boyfriend drove up and ran to her aid, Eubank said. The boyfriend struck Sanchez on the head and chased him, but he escaped, Eubank said.
Meanwhile, an off-duty California Youth Authority officer driving on the freeway saw Sanchez fleeing, police said. He left the freeway and watched Sanchez until he ran behind a house on nearby Sierra Highway.
The officer, whose name was not released, provided police with the location of the suspect, and Sanchez was arrested without incident.
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