By Khalida Sarwari
A 36-year-old man was arraigned today in Santa Clara County Superior Court in connection with a kidnapping and sexual assault over the weekend in which a woman was apparently abducted in Palo Alto before running away from her attacker in Santa Clara.
Lionel Blanks, of Santa Clara, was arraigned on six felony charges, including rape by force, violence, duress, menace or fear; sexual penetration by force, violence, duress, menace or fear of bodily injury; attempted murder; carjacking, where the victim is a passenger in the vehicle; robbery in the second degree; and threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury, according to the district attorney’s office.
The victim’s harrowing account of the events began in the early morning hours on Saturday in the 1600 block of El Camino Real in Palo Alto, according to a police document made public today.
She told a Palo Alto police officer she had climbed into her Mercedes early that morning to sleep, but was awoken and discovered that she was not in her car. She said a man had removed her from the car and began punching her in the face, eventually causing her to black out. She said he tied up her wrists and blindfolded her, and put her in the backseat.
The man then turned on the car and drove for 20 minutes, asking her for money along the way and threatening her, she told police. She said when she refused to answer some of his questions he would hit her or grope her buttocks or breasts, according to the statement.
The woman said when he stopped the car he pulled her out, punched her in the face and bound her wrists again. He then dragged her to the back of a building and continued punching her and tearing her clothes off, she told police.
He then proceeded to rape her and squeeze her neck, causing her to lose her ability to breathe, she said. The man then got up and began running away with her car keys. She said she began running in the opposite direction and flagged down a passing car.
At about 5:25 a.m., the woman reported the incident to Santa Clara police from Westwood Elementary School in the 400 block of Saratoga Avenue, police said.
She was taken to Valley Medical Center to be treated for injuries that included a 1-inch laceration to the top of her forehead, a black left eye, swelling and bruising on the left side of her face, severe bruising and swelling on the left, right and back side of her neck, lacerations and bruising on her elbows, arms, wrists and hands, lacerations to both knees, bruising to her buttocks, vaginal injuries, and loss of consciousness, according to the document.
The Santa Clara County Crime Lab processed sperm evidence that was collected during a sexual assault exam and positively matched it to Blanks, according to police.
Blanks was arrested on Wednesday evening as he was leaving his home, where he lived with his girlfriend and children, about eight miles from where the rape occurred, police said. He allegedly tried to run away from officers.
An officer that investigated victim’s car and both the area where she was allegedly kidnapped and raped determined that several of her belongings were missing, including her torn dress, her purse containing three cell phones, house and car keys, camera, driver’s license and credit cards, police said.
If convicted as charged, Blanks faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, district attorney’s spokeswoman Amy Cornell said.
Blanks is being held without bail and is scheduled to enter a plea on Thursday afternoon.