San Jose police arrest suspect accused of attacking girl

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose police have arrested a man accused of forcing himself on a 13-year-old girl as she returned home from school.

Police arrested San Jose resident Mohammad Khaliqi, 31, without incident at 10:25 a.m. in the 1400 block of School Street in San Leandro.

The suspect has been identified as Mohammad Khaliqi. Police arrested Khaliqi in the 1400 block of School St. in San Leandro on Friday afternoon.

He was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of multiple counts of burglary, attempted sexual assault and false imprisonment.

Khaliqi altered his appearance and it's different than what was originally captured by security cameras.

The suspect was wanted in connection with two attempted sexual assault cases on separate females in the last two months.

On Tuesday, the man followed the girl as she walked home from school. Police responded to the girl's home in the 4000 block of Rio Vista Avenue and she told investigators he had forced his way through the front door of her home as she went inside. She fought him off and he fled before police arrived.

The girl then locked the door after he left, hid in a closet and texted her father: "DADDY COME HOME NOW. SOME GUY TRIED TO RAPE ME."

The attack was caught on the family's home surveillance system.

"The guy starts a conversation with her and when she opens up the door, the suspect pushes her in, tries to sexually assault her as well. The little girl is brave, she fights back, and the guy leaves on foot," San Jose Police Sgt. Enrique Garcia said. "He's not concerned about being caught, since he's doing this in broad daylight."

Police say they received more than 100 tips from the public, many who saw the video on social media, and they were able to use that information to track him down. "All the credit belongs to the citizens who called in with those tips, without their help it would've been difficult to arrest the suspect within 48 hours," San Jose Deputy Chief Shawny Williams said.

Khaliqi actually lived within walking distance of the attack locations.

On April 2, the same suspect is believed to have followed a 28-year-old woman into a public restroom at Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Japanese grocery store at 675 Saratoga Ave.

He attempted to sexually assault the woman in the restroom and fled before police arrived shortly before 1 p.m.

PHOTOS: SJ police say girl attacked by predator at home

Police released surveillance photos of the man from both locations.

The Deputy Chief called Khaliqi a monster and says that he's glad to have him in custody.

Anyone with information on these incidents or any other unreported incident is asked to contact the Police Department's Sexual Assault Investigations Unit at 408-277-4102.

Bay City News contributed to this story.