Posted on 04/04/2006 3:23:42 AM PDT by freepatriot32
An 18-year-old woman was kidnapped and raped early Friday morning while walking home from a traffic stop in which Upland police impounded her ride, authorities said.
Upland police allowed the woman to leave alone on foot around midnight near 14th Street and Euclid Avenue after they towed the car in which she was a passenger.
She called police from the south part of the city about two hours later and reported that a man forced her into his car at gunpoint and raped her before she made it home.
Police Capt. Jeff Mendenhall said that despite the obvious safety concerns, police followed proper procedures in letting the woman walk through the city alone in the middle of the night. It was the woman's choice to do so, he said, and officers had no authority to stop her.
"She could have been taken somewhere, but she turned it down," Mendenhall said. "If she were a juvenile we would have made arrangements to get her home. But if it's an adult we can't force them against their will."
Officers arrested the suspected assailant shortly after the woman reported she was raped.
They said the suspect, 22-year-old Seuti Magba-Kamara of Rancho Cucamonga, drove past them while they were interviewing the woman just after 2 a.m.
They pulled him over several blocks away and took him into custody without incident, Mendenhall said.
He was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on charges of rape, kidnapping, robbery, criminal threats and forcible oral copulation. Bail was set at $1 million.
Police said the incident unfolded about 11:20 p.m. Thursday after officers stopped the car in which the woman was a passenger.
The driver of the car, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia, and the car was impounded.
Mendenhall said the woman initially waited in the back seat of a squad car while police called a ride for her. The ride didn't show, and the woman decided to walk to a pay phone, Mendenhall said.
She didn't come back, Mendenhall said.
Police said she made it about three miles on foot before a man pulled up in a white Chevrolet Impala and offered her a ride near San Antonio Avenue and Eighth Street.
When she refused, he brandished a handgun and forced her into his car, Mendenhall said.
He then drove her to an alley, threatened her and forced her to have sex at gunpoint, police said. He stole her ID and let her out of the car afterward, police said.
She called to report the incident at about 2 a.m. from the area of Seventh Street and San Antonio.
After his arrest, the woman identified Magba-Kamara as her assailant, authorities said. Evidence was found in his car linking him to the crime, Mendenhall said. Police also recovered the gun, which they said turned out to be an air pistol.
The woman, who suffered bruises on her arm, was treated a hospital and released.
Mendenhall said police don't like to leave people stranded on the streets.
Officers will often take them to 24-hour restaurants or even allow them to wait in the police station lobby for their rides.
This woman didn't want that, he said.
"We certainly didn't leave her stranded," he said. "There were better options for her to take."
Curtis Cope, an expert in police procedure, said Friday it appears Upland police acted within the law in allowing the woman to walk home alone.
"It sounds like an offer for assistance was made, and that would be consistent with good police practice," Cope said.
In some cases, an officer can drive a person home, but that depends on how busy the officer is and how far away is the person's destination, said Cope, who spent 29 years as a policeman and now works as an instructor on proper tactics.
Normally, police will help the person call a cab or arrange transportation. If the person chooses to walk, police must let them, he said.
According to court records, Magba-Kamara has a case pending against him. He is suspected of committing a robbery at a fast-food restaurant on Holt Boulevard in Montclair.
He was out of jail on his own recognizance Thursday night.
This is true. The police are not at fault.
Bad things can happen when you ride around with a drug dealer.
"He was out of jail on his own recognizance Thursday night."
If I said what I wanted I'd be banned. Do we need more jails?
"Bail was set at $1 million."
It's confusing. I think it's saying that he was released the day before (Thurs) the rape. (Fri)
"He was out of jail on his own recognizance Thursday night"
Actually, I think it's saying that at the time he committed the rape, he was out "on his own recognizance" from the previous arrest.
It's poorly written.
Seems logical to me. I know I feel alot safer now.....
There's no drug dealer in the story. Just someone booked on suspicion of possession of drug paraphenalia.
If that is true, and the woman was offered a ride home by the police, but refused. She has no right to blame the cops.
But, if no such offer was made, or if she requested a ride but was refused, the cops have a lot of splainin' to do.
FYI
It might make sense for some of you to spend some time observing courts, prosecutors, and police -- and then noting the difference between what actually happens and how it shows up in the news.
It's not just "rouge" police, it's "rouge" reporters and "rouge" lawyers. There's nothing a cop can do to keep a judge from releasing someoneon his own recognizance. And I bet the same people trashing the "rouge" cops in this thread would be just as angry if they read that they "forced" the woman into the back of the cruiser and took her home against her will.
And that's what makes the whole thing look bogus. Most of you all aren't interested in the facts or in the whole truth, you're just looking for a chance to vent your anger against cops. Whatever floats your boat.
What's missing in the story is whether the police volunteered or refused to take her home. The whole story centers around her trying to find a ride.
Too busy towing cars to arrest the criminals.
Let's see, he was charged with a myriad of crimes, at least two of which once carried the death penalty and is a suspect in a fast-food robbery.
Well, it is California, but still...
This didn't happen while she was driving around with a "drug dealer."
And where in the world does the story say he was drug dealer? For all we know all they found was an alligator clip and impounded his car over it.
"rouge" Red cops & reporters? Or rogues? :)
"The driver of the car,.... arrested on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia, and the car was impounded."
A car was impounded for possession of drug paraphernalia? No drugs just paraphernalia? The war on drugs has gone far too far.
What should they have done?
WTF language is that?
FMCDH(BITS)
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