Sacramento man sentenced for sexual assaults on women in Yolo and Sonoma counties
A Yolo County judge last week sentenced a Sacramento man to 17 years in prison for sexually assaulting two women, including a recent UC Davis graduate in August 2020 who was able to get her attacker’s fingerprint and traces of DNA on a glass of tea.
On May 31, a jury found 37-year-old Jose Perez-Meza guilty of two counts of assault with intent to commit rape, attempted digital penetration, sexual battery, attempted rape, assault with likelihood of great bodily injury, robbery and witness dissuasion, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.
Yolo Superior Court Judge Thomas Dyer on Thursday handed down the maximum sentence for the two sexual assaults, the District Attorney’s Office announced Monday in a news release.
“Jose Perez-Meza is an absolute predator,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in the news release. “Through the tremendous investigation conducted by both Davis PD and Santa Rosa PD, California is a safer place, and the victims were able to obtain justice.”
The first sexual assault occurred four years ago in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. The other assault occurred two years ago in Davis in Yolo County.
In June 2018, a 27-year-old Santa Rosa woman left her apartment on crutches to go to her car. Prosecutors said Perez-Meza tackled her as she reached her car, before he forced his hands into her underwear as she screamed and struggled.
Perez-Meza continued to assault the woman, but other people a few car spaces over caused him to leave, prosecutors said. The Santa Rosa Police Department reviewed security camera images and developed a profile of a “person of interest” but not the specific identity of the attacker. The crime went unsolved for two years.
The second sexual assault occurred Aug. 2, 2020, near the 1600 block of Drew Circle. A 23-year-old Davis woman and recent UC Davis graduate was taking a late evening walk on the Putah Creek Bike Path.
Prosecutors said Perez-Meza grabbed the woman from behind as she was walking, before he violently choked her. She lost consciousness and awoke a short distance away on the bike path.
Perez-Meza demanded she give him her cellphone and told her not to scream or fight as he tried to pry her legs apart, telling her he wanted to have sex with her, according to the District Attorney’s Office. She convinced Perez-Meza to stop.
Prosecutors said Perez-Meza then grabbed her hand and insisted that he walk her back to her apartment. She didn’t want to be alone with Perez-Meza, so she asked him that they go inside her apartment, knowing her male roommate was inside.
She gave Perez-Meza a glass of tea, and he left his fingerprint and DNA on the glass, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The fingerprint was processed by the California Department of Justice Latent Print Unit, and the FBI’s fingerprint database system matched it with a fingerprint belonging to Perez-Meza, prosecutors have said.
On Aug. 24, the Davis Police Department served a search warrant at Perez-Meza’s home and found a jacket that matched the jacket captured in security camera video from the Santa Rosa investigation.
Prosecutors said Perez-Meza was convicted of sex offenses twice before.
In 2015, Perez-Meza was convicted in Sacramento for misdemeanor sexual battery, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. In 2017, he was arrested and later convicted for misdemeanor sexual battery against another woman. In 2018, Perez-Meza was convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
Now, his latest conviction will require Perez-Meza to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
