By Khalida Sarwari
A San Jose-area transient pleaded not guilty in Santa Clara County Superior Court in Palo Alto this morning to charges stemming from attacks on women along a Mountain View trail late last year.
John Detches, 32, faces two counts of assault with intent to commit felony, two counts of false imprisonment, and one count of kidnapping to commit sexual offense. All are felonies.
Detches was arrested on Dec. 7, 2009, on Stevens Creek Trail where, a week earlier, he had allegedly attacked a woman as she jogged, according to police.
The victim told police that on Nov. 29, an attacker blocked her path near the Dana Street overcrossing, picked her up in a bear hug and carried her toward some bushes along the creek, police said. The victim scratched his face and fought him until he dropped her and fled on a green mountain bike.
The woman was not injured and called 911 afterward.
The other charges stem from two other incidents along the trail earlier that month. A woman in her 20s came forward and said that a man had approached her and grabbed her arm along the trail on Nov 25. She yelled at him and he fled on his bike, police said.
On Nov. 12, a 24-year-old woman reported that she had been jogging when a man approached her and grabbed her shoulders, police said. She pulled away and elbowed him in the stomach, and he fled on his bicycle.
Detches had previously been convicted of felony attempted robbery and felony assault with a deadly weapon.
A preliminary hearing date for Detches was set for Aug. 27 in Palo Alto.