By Khalida Sarwari
A 32-year-old Hollister man was arrested on suspicion of attempting to rape a woman after offering her a ride home from a nightclub in Gilroy early Sunday morning, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy was patrolling agricultural fields in the 600 block of state Highway 129 around 3:40 a.m. when he encountered a car parked on a darkened dirt road leading to a strawberry field, sheriff’s officials said.
When he approached the occupants inside the vehicle, a female passenger appeared “hysterical” and told the deputy that the driver of the vehicle had just tried to rape her, according to the sheriff’s office.
She explained that the man had offered her a ride from a nightclub in Gilroy and she had accepted, but that on the way to her home, he pulled over next to the strawberry field and attempted to sexually assault her, according to the sheriff’s office.
He stopped when he saw the deputy’s patrol vehicle.
The man was identified as Bruno Munguia. He was booked into Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of assault with the intent to commit rape.