Two men face felony charges for break-in in which woman was fondled
By Kelly Wheeler
City News Service
Two young men accused in a break-in at a La Jolla home in which a 22-year-old woman was allegedly fondled as she slept must stand trial on felony charges, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Brian Patrick Silva, 21, is charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, rape by a foreign object on an unconscious person and misdemeanor sexual battery. He faces more than nine years in prison if convicted.
Xavzier Pernell Paschal, also 21, is charged with burglary and receiving stolen property and faces up to six years behind bars if found guilty, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Stein.
The victim of the alleged sexual assault, identified only as Briana, testified Tuesday that she went to see four friends in La Jolla the night of Aug. 10 and the group went down to Windansea Beach after dinner.
She said the defendants came up to the group asking for shot glasses, left for a time, then came back offering vodka and marijuana.
She testified that her group walked back to her friend’s house on Westbourne Street, and she noticed the defendants standing in the driveway when she got to the front door.
“I said, ‘What are you doing here?’”
She said Silva told her he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t mention something about his hotel job. The victims said the suspects were not invited in.
The woman said she was “mildly intoxicated” from drinking beer and went to sleep on a living room couch between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. the next morning. She woke up about an hour later with a young man wearing a hooded jacket fondling her, she said.
“It wasn’t pleasant,” she testified.
As she was trying to come to, the victim said she heard a loud noise from the other side of the house, saw Paschal running through the home and gave chase.
Briana said she figured the perpetrators were Silva and Paschal because she had seen them together earlier at the beach.
She said Paschal dropped her friend’s computer and iPod in an alley and she returned the items to the house.
Once back at the home, she said she noticed her cell phone and purse were missing. The witness said she identified her property when the suspects were taken into custody on a nearby street.
A woman who was living at the home, identified as Nathalie, testified that Paschal told the group on the beach that he was on scholarship to play basketball. Silva said his relative worked in the La Jolla area, the witness testified.
San Diego police Officer Omar Sinclair testified that he stopped the suspect’s car a few blocks from the crime scene and saw some of the victims’ stolen property when he looked in the vehicle.
Silva, who was driving, said “I know why you stopped me,” according to the officer.
Detective Eduardo Fletes said Paschal told him that he was drinking and went into the home and took valuables that didn’t belong to him.
Silva initially denied going in the home, but later admitted breaking in and taking the victims’ property, according to the detective.
Silva, however, denied sexually assaulting the victim and said he only rubbed her buttocks over a blanket, Fletes testified.
Outside court, Silva – who is free on $50,000 bail – told reporters that he didn’t think he was breaking into the home because Paschal told him they had permission to go inside.
“I was told we had permission,” Silva said.
Silva said “one of the drunk guys” in the victims’ group at the beach told he and Paschal to come over to the house.
The defendant admitted touching the victim on the couch but said he only rubbed her buttocks.
Judge Margo Lewis ordered the defendants to return to court Nov. 2 for a readiness conference and Nov. 10 for trial.
Related posts:
- La Jolla crime report for Sept. 11-18
- La Jolla crime report for Aug. 30-Sept. 3
- La Jolla crime report for Aug. 21-28
- La Jolla crime report for Aug. 14-20
- Malicious mischief in La Jolla under investigation
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Posted by Halie Johnson
on Sep 22, 2010. Filed under La Jolla, News.
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