SAN DIEGO -- A man taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the brutal attack and rape of a woman in University City over the weekend will not face charges in the case.
The man is not considered a suspect, San Diego police Lt. Paul Phillips told 10News Wednesday. However, Phillips said the man was also facing unrelated charges, so it was unclear if he would remain in custody for the time being. His name was not released.
The man was apprehended in a canyon Tuesday in La Jolla after a University of California, San Diego campus officer spotted him at a bus stop and thought he fit the description of the rape suspect. The officer said once he made eye contact with the man, he ran off into the canyon. After an air and ground search, police caught and arrested him on charges of being under the influence of drugs and resisting an officer.
This means investigators are still looking for the suspect who followed a woman to her apartment and then sexually assaulted and robbed her late Saturday night in University City.
According to San Diego police, at around 10:30 p.m., a woman was walking through the parking lot of the Venetian Apartments at 3929 Nobel Drive when a man began to follow her.
The suspect followed the woman to her apartment, and as she unlocked her door, he knocked her to the ground, pulled out a handgun and demanded money, police said.
After the woman complied with his demands, the suspect choked her. He then forced her into her apartment and sexually assaulted her before running away.
The man was described as black, 25 to 30 years of age, 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11, 180 pounds with a medium or athletic build. He had short black hair and short black beard. He was wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt, gray shorts with red stripes and black sneakers. He was carrying a black backpack. No surveillance photos were released.
Anyone with information on the case should call the San Diego Police Sex Crimes Unit at 619-531-2210 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
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