“Brutal and Wrong”: Mestizo Rapist Arrested in LA

NBC LA
October 27, 2013

Joseph Amaya.
Joseph Amaya.
El Monte police on Saturday arrested 18-year-old Joseph Leo Amaya — the man accused of trapping a woman in a convenience store as she closed the shop and raping her inside, police said.

Amaya was being held in lieu of $5 million bail — $1 million for each count he will be charged with, including rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object, El Monte police said in a Saturday night press conference.

“What he did was brutal and wrong, and he will eventually be brought to justice,” El Monte Police Sgt. Roger Cobian said.

Dozens of public tips from as far as Santa Clara helped lead police to Amaya, a man they called a “major sexual predator.”

Amaya allegedly blocked the exit of the Peck Mini Mart and dragged the helpless woman to the back of the shop and raped her on Oct. 19, according the El Monte Police Department.

Police identified him as a gang member who is considered “dangerous.”

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