Redwood City man charged with two attempted sexual assaults

A 30-year-old Redwood City man was charged Friday with several felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly breaking into the homes of two women and attempting to sexually assault them, prosecutors said.

Jose Gonzalez Cruz was charged with two felony counts of assault with intent to commit rape in the commission of a first-degree burglary, one felony count of attempted first-degree burglary, one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

The two break-ins and attempted assaults do not appear to have been targeted, said Shin-Mee Chang, chief deputy district attorney at the DA’s office.

“I don’t have any reason to believe that he was targeting these particular residences versus being a crime of opportunity,” Chang said.

An attorney for Gonzalez Cruz could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Around 2:20 a.m. on May 10, Gonzalez Cruz allegedly entered a house in San Carlos through an unlocked door, prosecutors said. He got into a bed — while nude — with an adult woman and her child and asked the woman to have sex with him. The child was under the age of 10, Chang said.

The woman suggested to Gonzalez Cruz that they go to a different room, prosecutors said. When he went into the next room, she locked the door behind him and called the police.

Gonzalez Cruz fled the house and was not caught that night, prosecutors added. Video surveillance later revealed that Gonzalez Cruz had prowled outside the woman’s house two days before and two days after the incident.

On May 12, Gonzalez Cruz tried to open a door of the same house, prompting the additional attempted burglary charge, Chang added. He was chased away by the victim’s husband.

“It’s pretty brazen,” Chang said.

Just before 3 a.m. on July 5, Gonzalez Cruz allegedly entered a Redwood City house, where he approached a woman who was in bed with her husband and attempted to have oral sex with her as she slept, prosecutors said. The woman woke up and Gonzalez Cruz fled.

Investigators learned that a neighbor had seen Gonzalez Cruz masturbating on another home’s front porch in the neighborhood one day before the incident, prosecutors added. The police were contacted in that incident but the suspect was not arrested that day, Chang said.

Gonzalez Cruz was previously convicted of a felony attempted burglary in 2014 in San Mateo County, Chang added.

If convicted, Gonzalez Cruz could face up to life in prison on the two assault charges, which are indeterminate sentences that carry a minimum of seven years incarceration before parole eligibility, Chang said. The attempted burglary charge carries either a two, four or six year sentence because it is a second strike offense, and the two misdemeanors each carry a sentence of one year.

Gonzalez Cruz will next appear in court Tuesday to enter a plea. He remains in custody on no bail status.