The murder suspect in the case of missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar has been linked to a string of attempted kidnappings that occurred three years ago.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Antolin Garcia-Torres, 21, who was charged with Sierra’s murder in May, now faces charges in three separate attempted kidnapping and attempted carjacking incidents that occurred at Morgan Hill Safeway parking lots in 2009.
Two of the incidents occurred on March 19, 2009.
According to the report, in the first case, a 36-year-old Morgan Hill woman was leaving the Safeway on Dunne Avenue when a man started walking behind he. When she sped up, so did the follower. She got in her car and locked the door. The man tried to open the door but she drove away.
Later that evening at about 11:30 p.m., a 46-year-old woman was assaulted after walking to her car at the Tennant Station Safeway. A man entered the car through an unlocked door and attacked her with a stun gun. The suspect fled when someone pulled up and heard the victim screaming.
The third case linked to Garcia-Torres occurred just days later on March 26, 2009, according to the Mercury News.
At about 8:40 p.m. an 18-year-old woman parked at the Dunne Avenue Safeway in Morgan Hill when a man snuck into the back seat. The woman was aware of the previous incidents in the area and tried to reach for a pocketknife in her glove compartment. The suspect grabbed her hand, opened the knife and forced the knife to her neck with her own hand. The man got startled when she screamed and ran away, according to the report.
The suspect did not speak during any of the incidents.
Though Garcia-Torres, a former Safeway employee, was 17 at the time of the incidents, he will be charged as an adult, the newspaper reports.
Garcia-Torres was arrested on suspicion of Sierra’s murder in May.
Sierra, who grew up in Fremont, disappeared March 16 on her way to a bus stop in rural Morgan Hill.
Though Sierra’s body has not been found, Santa Clara County investigators have ruled the case a homicide and said Garcia-Torres’ DNA was found on her clothes that were found in a nearby field. As well, Sierra’s DNA was found in Garcia-Torres’ vehicle.
Garcia-Torres has yet to enter a plea in the case and is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 10, according to the Mercury News.
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