San Jose girl attacked while walking home from school, police say
(KRON) — A girl was walking home from school in San Jose when a homeless man grabbed her, forced the girl under an Interstate 280 overpass, and sexually assaulted her, police said.
Detectives identified the suspect as 50-year-old Julian Salvador Martinez, and police are requesting the public’s assistance to find and arrest him.
The attack happened just before 5:30 p.m. on April 9 in the area of South 11th Street and I-280, according to the San Jose Police Department.
“A female minor victim was walking home from school northbound on South 11th Street when (a man) riding a dark-colored bicycle approached her and pulled her underneath the highway overpass,” SJPD spokesperson Stacie Shih wrote.
“The male suspect sexually assaulted the victim and prevented her from leaving. After the victim fought off the suspect, he fled the scene on his bicycle,” Shih wrote.
Police said Martinez is known to hang out in “The Jungle,” a sprawling homeless encampment that stretches along a creek adjacent to Senter Road and Keyes Street.
Martinez also frequents the area of East Williams Street and South 10th Street. “Information has surfaced that the suspect is aware that he is wanted and had been evicted from his encampment,” Shih wrote.
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Martinez remains at large. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall, has dark hair, and a mustache. During the April 9 incident, he was wearing a black baseball cap with yellow lettering, and a black sweatshirt, police said.
Anyone with information regarding Martinez’s whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Addy of the San Jose Police Sexual Assault Investigations Unit via email, 4738@sanjoseca.gov, or call SAIU 408-277-4102.
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