Man charged in rape cases
Two O.C. teens were attacked, prosecutors say, and other possible victims are sought.
A 41-year-old man nicknamed “Tiburon,” or “shark” in Spanish, is accused of sexually assaulting two teenagers in Orange County last year, and prosecutors are searching for other possible victims.
Alejandro Hernandez Garcia of San Juan Capistrano was charged with seven felony counts, including forcible rape and rape by use of drug, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
In July 2016, prosecutors said, Garcia approached a 16-year-old girl in a residential neighborhood in San Juan Capistrano, pulled her into a garage, locked the door and sexually assaulted her.
Prosecutors said the girl knew him as “Tiburon,” but details about how she knew him are not clear.
About a month later, prosecutors said, he approached a 19-year-old woman who was lost in Santa Ana and gave her an alcoholic drink, which contained an illegal drug. Prosecutors said Garcia sexually assaulted the woman in the back seat of his car.
Police caught Garcia after he returned to the first victim’s San Juan Capistrano neighborhood in July.
When she saw him, she told some neighbors, who “went after him” and gave him a black eye, said Michelle Van Der Linden, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
None of the neighbors was arrested, she said.
DNA evidence linked Garcia to the second case, Van Der Linden said, adding that the two victims do not know each other.
Prosecutors are asking other possible victims to come forward.
“We’re hoping that the name ‘the shark’ will stand out to people,” Van Der Linden said.
Garcia, who was arrested last week, is being held on $1-million bail and is due in court next week. If convicted, he faces 98 years to life in state prison.
Anyone with information is asked to call Eric Wiseman, a supervising investigator with the district attorney’s office, at (714) 347-8794.