University police help identify sexual assualt suspect
A 23-year-old male, Brandon Miguel Escamilla, was arrested on March 27 for two recent robberies at San Jose State University (SJSU) and off-campus.
Charged for robberies and sexual assault
Approximately March 15, authorities responded to a call from a female who stated that she was assaulted at the E. San Carlos St. between 2nd and S. 4th St near an area located between the fast food restaurants McDonald’s and Jack in the Box. Later in the week another report of the same incident was reported on the SJSU campus, and the suspect according to the victim was similar in appearance. The description from the SJSUPD reports, “the robbery suspect was a white male, approximately 24-25 years old, skinny build, wearing a brown hoodie sweatshirt with lettering on the front with a baseball cap and grey pajama pants.”
Victim was trapped here in rm #216
SJSU campus has 286 blue light phones that call directly to the 911 dispatch center. According to Sgt. John Laws with the University Police, “We are able to respond to any call within two – three minutes at the most.” The campus has 29 officers in total, with three officers patrolling at any one time. “There are also two officers posted inside the Martin Luther King Jr. library to respond to calls” said Laws. The campus does not have a crime lab, however, they are able to utilize the county crime lab in order to collect and analyze crime scene data in order to turn it over to investigative officers who then try and determine a suspect.
University police officers responded to a call of a suspicious person, in which the victim directed officers to the area where they were able to lift fingerprints from the scene in order to help identify a suspect. The finger prints were gathered and analyzed by the San Jose PD in cooperation with the ongoing investigation of another case that had occurred nearby.
Laws said, “Escamilla was a regular at the library, and when security officers at the library recognized his photo they immediately contacted SJSU detectives.” Once the identification of the suspect was determined a photo line-up was provided to the victim, in which Escamilla was positively identified by both victims as the person who had attempted to rob and sexual assault them. The San Jose Police Department with University Police put out a RAMY Warrant for his arrest.
While in Clark Hall room #216 the suspect had entered the room and turned out the light, however the victim was able to break free. The victim was able to find two other students who had called 911 and tried to help the victim. When officers arrived the victim had explained that he had closed the door and that he had run in the opposite direction to evade detection or capture.
Escamilla had previously been arrested on March 18, 2013 for prowling under the influence of a controlled substance while violating court probation u in the City of Santa Clara. When questioned by investigative officers, Escamilla denied trying to grab or stop the victim by force. He was then booked by University Police into the Main Jail.
Read more:
Spartan Daily: University Police Department arrests man for two recent robberies
SJSU Today: Police Arrest Assault Suspect
