A man was behind bars Friday on suspicion of abducting and raping a 17-year-old girl earlier this week in a neighborhood near Moonlight State Beach, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The 39-year-old man allegedly confronted the teenager as she was walking on Third Street near East Street in Encinitas on Wednesday afternoon, ordered her to go into a nearby parking lot and forced her into a vehicle, sheriff’s Lt. Lon Nguyen said in a news release.
He allegedly sexually assaulted the girl and fled, Nguyen said. The lieutenant said detectives from the department’s Sexual Assault Unit “were able to quickly identify the suspect and his vehicle” by using automated license plate readers.
The following day, the San Diego Fugitive Task Force arrested the suspect near University Avenue and Bonillo Drive in Rolando area of San Diego, investigators said.
He was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of kidnapping, rape and forcible oral copulation, was held without bail pending arraignment, possibly Tuesday.
