In the aftermath of a shocking rape
– the second reported near the Uvas Creek Levee this spring –
schools are touting safety and police are tracking community tips,
hoping to take a violent predator off Gilroy streets.
Gilroy – In the aftermath of a shocking rape – the second reported near the Uvas Creek Levee this spring – schools are touting safety and police are tracking community tips, hoping to take a violent predator off Gilroy streets.
After high school administrators learned of the attack Wednesday afternoon from the Dispatch and School Resource officer Cherie Somavia, staff sprung into action. An automated phone message went out to all Gilroy High School parents, describing the attack, the assailant and some basic safety tips. E-mails relayed the message through the Web. Bilingual English-Spanish flyers were placed in teacher mailboxes, alerting them to the incident.
The attack took place at 4pm Tuesday afternoon on the Uvas Creek Levee behind the school. A 16-year-old GHS student was walking north on the levee when the man assaulted her from behind, striking her head with an unknown object, she told police. As he dragged her toward the creek, the girl went in and out of consciousness. The suspect is described as a heavyset white man in his mid-20s, roughly 6-feet tall and weighing 250 pounds. Though he wore a ski-mask, she was able to see his nearly-black eyes, his pale, thick hands and forearms, free of tattoos and scars. He wore a white T-shirt, black jeans and black shoes, and smelled of Axe body spray, she told police. During the rape, he said nothing. Afterward, he got up and fled down the levee.
Though Principal James Maxwell was unaware of the attack Wednesday afternoon when interviewed by the Dispatch, officer Somavia had contacted GHS staff about midday, and left a voice message asking administrators to call her back, said Assistant Principal Greg Camacho-Light. Somavia could not be reached Thursday to discuss how information is relayed between schools and police.
Some Gilroy parents were worried that school staff didn’t issue warnings about the attack until nearly 24 hours later, due in part to phone tag between police and administrators. Camacho-Light cautioned that the school couldn’t issue warnings based on incomplete information, and needed to get specific details from officer Somavia before alerting students, parents and staff.
“We have to be very careful not to put out vague messages that frighten people,” said Camacho-Light. “If the information were just – hey, there was an assault on the levee – it would be alarming, not informative.”
Invoking the Virginia Tech shootings, Perla Flores said school notification should happen “as soon as possible.” Flores directs sexual assault and domestic violence programs at Community Solutions. Though she said she wasn’t familiar with how Gilroy police communicate with GHS staff, and couldn’t assess whether information had passed efficiently, she said preventative measures were key in such cases. Wednesday afternoon, as teens left school, the attack hadn’t been publicized. Several teens were seen walking, biking and running along the levee, some of them alone.
“I’m outraged,” said Gina DiMaria, a Gilroy mother whose 9-year-old daughter often plays softball at Christmas Hill Park. “There has to be some kind of system. What if this guy is standing out in the bushes, and he tries it again a few hours later? Or the next morning? If my daughter were walking down the levee six hours later and something happened, I don’t think phone tag would be a good excuse for me.”
The attack is the third sexual assault reported in the area this year. In April, a 15-year-old girl reported being approached by four men as she walked on the levee; she left with one, who raped her near the Christmas Hill Park amphitheater. Earlier that month, a 14-year-old boy reported that a man offered him a ride to the library, then drove him to the park, where he molested him, then drove him to the Gilroy Sports Park, assaulting him again.
After the news broke, several tipsters have mentioned suspicious people who fit the victim’s description, said Detective Mitch Madruga, who has asked such callers to view photos of registered sex offenders. Thus far, none have been identified by callers as the suspect. One anonymous caller said she was jogging down the levee three weeks ago when she saw a man in a ski mask standing under a tree, Madruga said – “not strange enough to call the police, I guess,” he remarked. As of press time Thursday, the police did not have a suspect.
The victim described the rapist to a sketch artist Thursday, but the artist was unable to complete a detailed sketch based on her information. Because the man was wearing a mask, the artist said his sketch probably wouldn’t be accurate, Madruga said.
In a Wednesday interview, Community Solutions’ Director of Development, Lisa De Silva, emphasized the importance of sexual assault awareness, not only in response to violent incidents but as a general precaution.
“We should get information out to the public in a way that focuses on education, rather than alarm,” De Silva said.
Camacho-Light said the automated calls and e-mails succeeded in raising awareness without raising fears, as evidenced by the lack of parent phone calls to the high school today.
“This brings home the fact that even though we’re a little city, we’re surrounded by rural areas,” he said. “As nice as the levee is, it also has secluded parts. We need to make sure we’re safe at all times, and we want to get that message out over and over.”
Anyone with information on the incident may call Detective Mitch Madruga at 846-0350, or leave an anonymous tip at 846-0330.
