Ex-girlfriend forced to lie about attempted murder for 24
hours
GILROY
A man stabbed a woman several times in with a screwdriver-like object after she tried to break up with him, police said.
On Sunday, Rosalino Zaquero-Crisostomo, 31, and his similarly aged girlfriend were in his apartment at 142 First St. when she told him she wanted to end the relationship, police said.
A verbal fight ensued, during which he grabbed something that the woman said looked like a screwdriver and jammed it into her abdomen and neck several times.
During the attack, the woman “faked him into believing the relationship could continue,” said Detective Stan Devlin, who was assigned to the case.
Using this pretense, she got him to take her to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for her wounds and released the same day, he said.
However, on the way to the hospital, Zaquero-Crisostomo made her agree to lie about how she got the wounds, Devlin said. At the hospital, the pair said she was attacked in an attempted residential burglary. In addition, Zaquero-Crisostomo did not leave her side to allow her to time to tell a different story.
The pair kept up this charade Monday morning, when they went to the police station and spoke to officers about the residential burglary story.
But when he left her alone Monday morning, “that’s when she came in and gave up the story about the domestic violence,” Devlin said.
Police set up a sting operation at Zaquero-Crisostomo’s house while he was at work in Palo Alto and arrested him without incident for attempted murder and domestic battery when he came home that night, he said.
The woman was also granted an emergency protective order against Zaquero-Crisostomo.
Zaquero-Crisostomo is being held in a Santa Clara County jail and the case is being reviewed by the Santa Clara Office of the District Attorney for possible prosecution.
