Police arrested a 32-year-old man after he allegedly kidnapped, beat and raped a woman under a bridge in Gilroy Tuesday night.
About 11pm July 7, Gilroy Police responded to the 300 block of Welburn Avenue after a citizen reported hearing a man and woman yelling under a bridge, according to authorities.
Officers arrived and heard a woman yelling for help and saw a shirtless man running from the area, police said. The woman told officers she had been raped.
Police pursued the man and quickly caught up to him and arrested him, according to authorities.
The female victim told officers the man had forcibly kidnapped, raped, strangled and beaten her under the bridge, police said. The victim did not know the suspect.
The woman was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment and examination.
The suspect was identified as 32-year-old Mohammed Novbakhtian, a transient out of Santa Clara County, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of rape by force, kidnapping, false imprisonment and attempted murder. He was also on active felony probation.
Novbakhtian was booked at Santa Clara County Jail, police said.
