On June 4, at approximately 8:54am, San José Police Department patrol officers responded to the 1900 block of Willow Street following a report of a sexual assault that had just occurred on the Los Gatos Creek Trail near Leigh Avenue, in San José.
The adult female reported she was walking on the trail when she was violently thrown to the ground by an unknown adult male in an unprovoked attack.
The suspect then began to sexually assault her, SJPD said, adding the victim was able to fight back, escape and call for help.
Responding patrol officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect, who fled immediately after the assault. The SJPD Sexual Assaults Investigations Unit immediately launched an investigation.
A second adult female came forward and reported a similar encounter—also on the trail, around the same time, and involving a suspect who matched the description from the initial attack.
Detectives met with the second victim and confirmed that both incidents involved the same suspect.
“Due to the violent nature of the crime and the threat to public safety, SJPD mobilized all available resources to identify and apprehend the individual responsible for these heinous acts,” a spokesperson for the department said in a release. “Through their dedicated effort, Detectives identified the suspect as 21-year-old Pablo Chan.”
Chan had two outstanding misdemeanor warrants, and on June 5, around 4:30pm, officers from the SJPD Special Operations MERGE Unit located and arrested Chan outside a commercial parking lot near Leigh Avenue and De Rose Way.
He was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for felony aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault, as well as on the outstanding warrants.
The San José police worked with the Sexual Assault Investigations Unit, the Real Time Intelligence Center, the MERGE Unit, Covert Response Unit, Patrol Division, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Campbell Police Department, engaged community members to solve the case.
“Their swift action resulted in the identification and apprehension of a dangerous suspect,” the spokesperson said.
