A Lathrop man was sentenced to 15 years in prison this month for committing a series of rapes and sexual assaults in the Bay Area as well as Oregon and Washington, the Fremont Police Department said Monday.
Anmol Prasad, 35, was sentenced to 15 years and four months in state prison on Nov. 5 on two counts of assault with intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy or oral copulation and one count of forced sexual assault.
An investigation by police in Fremont, Oakland, Richmond, Portland and Renton, Washington, as well as the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office found that Prasad attacked multiple women between May 2015 and May 2016, including multiple women who posted advertisements online for sex work.
Fremont detectives arrested Prasad in May 2016, three days after he assaulted a 20-year-old woman, whom he had paid for sex, with a tire iron.
With the woman in his vehicle, Prasad began to drive away while the victim, believing she was being kidnapped, jumped from the vehicle while it was traveling at roughly 40 mph, resulting in injuries to her feet, knees, hands, hips, chest and abdomen, according to the Fremont police.
Detectives determined the vehicle Prasad used during the assault was parked outside a residence on the 16100 block of Adobe Way in Lathrop.
After arresting Prasad outside the residence on May 5, detectives obtained a search warrant for the vehicle, in which they found the black tire iron used in the assault.
Prasad, a long-haul truck driver, told detectives he was not in the Bay Area at the time of the attack and argued he had never had sex with a woman other than his wife, nor met with another person to exchange money for sex since marrying his wife in 2013.
Prasad also claimed he had never been to the state of Washington. At the time, there was a warrant for his arrest in the state for rape and evidence linking him to the rape of a woman, who had posted advertisements for sex work, near a Walmart in Renton.
Prasad was booked into the Fremont Jail on multiple charges, including the rape charge in Washington, at which point he began complaining of chest pain and was taken to the Washington Hospital Healthcare System hospital in Fremont.
According to the Fremont police, Prasad assaulted a Fremont police officer and a Fremont Detention officer while at the hospital in an effort to escape, injuring both officers in the process.
Prasad was eventually subdued and handcuffed following the alleged assault, which Fremont police sought charges for. However, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge any counts related to Prasad’s apparent attack on the Fremont police officer or the Fremont Detention officer.
Prasad remained in custody in Alameda County since his arrest in May 2016, according to the Fremont police.
Police detectives believe Prasad may have attacked more women who have yet to come forward due to fear or who have not yet been contacted.
People with information about Prasad’s case or related cases are encouraged to contact the Fremont Police Department’s Investigative Unit at 510.790.6954.
Reporting provided by Bay City News Foundation.