iNDICA NEWS BUREAU
A long-haul truck driver of Indian origin was sentenced to 15 years in prison for committing a series of rapes and sexual assaults in three different US states, police in Fremont, California, announced November 17.
According to SFgate.com, Anmol Prasad attacked multiple women between May 2015 and May 2016, including some who posted advertisements online for sex work.
Prasad, 35, has been charged on with two counts of assault with intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy or oral copulation and one count of forced sexual assault in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Oregon and Washington.
Fremont detectives arrested Prasad in May 2016, three days after he had assaulted a 20-year-old woman, whom he had paid for sex, with a tire iron.
With the woman in his vehicle, Prasad began to drive away while the victim, believing she was being kidnapped, jumped from the vehicle while it was traveling at roughly 40 mph, resulting in injuries to her feet, knees, hands, hips, chest and abdomen, according to the Fremont police.
Detectives determined that the vehicle Prasad used during the assault was parked outside a residence on the 16100 block of Adobe Way in Lathrop.
After arresting Prasad outside the residence on May 5, detectives obtained a search warrant for the vehicle, in which they found the black tire iron used in the assault.
According to Sfgate.com, Prasad told detectives he was not in the Bay Area at the time of the attack and argued that he had never had sex with a woman other than his wife or met with another person to exchange money for sex since marrying in 2013.
Prasad also claimed he had never travelled to Washington State.
Prasad was booked into the Fremont jail for multiple charges, including the rape charge in Washington, at which point he began complaining of chest pain and was taken to the Washington Hospital Healthcare System hospital in Fremont.
According to the Fremont police, Prasad assaulted a Fremont police officer and a Fremont Detention officer while at the hospital in an effort to escape, injuring both officers in the process.
Prasad was eventually subdued and handcuffed following the alleged assault, which Fremont police sought charges for.
However, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge any counts
related to Prasad’s apparent attack on the Fremont police officer or the Fremont Detention officer.
Prasad remained in custody in Alameda County since his arrest in May 2016, according to the Fremont police.
Police detectives believe Prasad may have attacked more women who have yet to come forward due to fear or who have not yet been contacted.
