7-3-2009 California:SAN DIEGO ---- An inmate who apparently committed suicide Friday by hanging himself in a cell at the San Diego Central Jail is believed to be a Tierrasanta man accused of seven sexual assaults on women throughout the city over the past year.
San Diego sheriff's Lt. Julie Sutton would neither confirm nor deny that the dead inmate was Thomas James Parker, 39, as reported by KGTV-10.
She did say a male inmate at the San Diego Central Jail committed suicide by hanging and was found around 7:30 a.m. Friday.
The Medical Examiner's Office also declined to release the man's name, but said that it had an investigator at the jail.
Parker was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly tried to rape a 33-year-old Mission Valley woman in her garage, threatening her with a knife and grabbing her.
The Escala Circle resident screamed and fought back, and the assailant fled.
Parker ---- a married father of two young children and co-owner of It's a Grind Coffee House in Little Italy ---- was captured by police at a shopping center a few blocks away with help from passersby, including two off-duty Border Patrol agents.
No one answered calls to the coffee house this morning,
Police said he had been linked through DNA and other evidence to seven sexual assaults.
Genetic evidence implicated Parker in at least three of seven home-invasion sexual assaults and robberies that began in June 2008, San Diego police said.
The assaults occurred in Carmel Valley, Tierrasanta, the College area and near UC San Diego, as well as Mission Valley.
Most of the victims were young Asian women, and in all of the attacks, the assailant demanded money before sexually assaulting the women, police said. ..Source.. by North County Times wire services
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Suspect In Sex Assault Series Commits Suicide
7-3-2009 California:
SAN DIEGO -- A Tierrasanta businessman accused in a home invasion and sexual assault series committed suicide in jail, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Sources told 10News that Thomas James Parker hanged himself Friday morning between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. in his cell at downtown's Central Jail. He was found dead by jail officials making rounds.
Sheriff's deputies, the jail's medical staff, firefighters and paramedics attempted lifesaving measures, but he was soon pronounced dead, said Sgt. Roy Frank of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Parker had apparently used a sheet to take his own life and was not on suicide watch, according to deputies.
Parker was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly tried to rape a 33-year-old Mission Valley woman in her garage, threatening her with a knife and grabbing her.
The Escala Circle resident screamed and fought back, and the assailant fled.
Parker -- a married father of two young children and co-owner of It's a Grind Coffee House in Little Italy -- was captured by police at a shopping center a few blocks away with help from passersby, including two off-duty Border Patrol agents.
Police said he had been linked through DNA and other evidence to seven sexual assaults.
Genetic evidence implicated Parker in at least three of seven home-invasion sexual assaults and robberies that began in June 2008, San Diego police said.
The assaults occurred in Carmel Valley, Tierrasanta, the College area and near the University of California, San Diego, as well as Mission Valley.
Based on DNA evidence and other similarities in the assaults, authorities said they planned to charge Parker with all seven assaults.
Most of the victims were young Asian women, and in all of the attacks, the assailant demanded money before sexually assaulting the women, police said.
Getting the man responsible had been a high priority for the San Diego Police Department.
"Our efforts paid off (Wednesday) when (the) victim decided she was going to fight back against her attacker," said SDPD Capt. Jim Collins.
Parker had been scheduled to be arraigned Monday. ..Source.. by KGTV-10
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Multiple-assault suspect found dead in jail cell
7-3-2009 California:
SAN DIEGO — A 39-year-old Tierrasanta man accused in a series of home-invasion robberies and sexual assaults committed suicide in the downtown jail early Friday.
Thomas James Parker was found dead shortly after 7 a.m. in his jail cell Friday morning after he hanged himself with a bed sheet, the county Medical Examiner's Office said.
Parker was arrested Wednesday after a 33-year-old Mission Valley woman fought off an attack in her garage and chased Parker down the street. She flagged down others driving nearby and an off-duty Border Patrol agent stopped at a traffic light joined in the chase and arrested Parker.
Police on Thursday said Parker was linked through DNA and other evidence to a series of similar home-invasion robberies and sexual assaults over the past year.
He was being held on $5 million bail and was expected to be charged in connection with seven assaults, six of which targeted Asian women, San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins said Thursday.
Parker, who was known as “Jim,” owned It's a Grind Coffee House in Little Italy and was married and has two young children.
Investigators had worked to identify the attacker for the past 13 months, following up on more than 140 tips from residents.
“This is the only one that kept me up at night,” said Assistant Police Chief Cesar Solis said Thursday. “We knew based on the patterns that he was going to hit again, and we did not know who he was.”
The circumstances were similar in each attack — confronting women at knifepoint as they arrived home and using zip ties to restrain them. But the assaults were widely spread throughout the city and didn't seem to follow any geographic pattern.
They occurred between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and involved a man who either entered through the garage or an unlocked front door, generally when the victim was carrying items into her home.
Attacks in the series included:
▪ A rape reported June 6, 2008, in the College Area.
▪ A rape on Nov. 7, 2008, at the University of California San Diego's Mesa graduate student housing complex.
▪ A robbery Jan. 16 in Tierrasanta.
▪ An incident where a woman was threatened with rape Feb. 10 in Carmel Valley
▪ A sexual battery March 4 on Carmel View Road.
▪ A robbery and sexual assault April 28 in a Mission Valley apartment. ..Source.. by Karen Kucher, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2 comments:
What a shame. I know this young family well and I am in total shock. Jimmy was a sft spoken, kind and gentle man who adored his children and wife. He was a good husband, father, son, brother, and friend to all who knew him. What in God's name could have happened to trigger this behavior. My heart breaks for his victims and his family. They too are victims
What a shame. I know this young family well and I am in total shock. Jimmy was a sft spoken, kind and gentle man who adored his children and wife. He was a good husband, father, son, brother, and friend to all who knew him. What in God's name could have happened to trigger this behavior. My heart breaks for his victims and his family. They too are victims
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