Suspect in sexual assault at Santa Ana bus stop charged

Charges were filed Monday against a man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in Santa Ana this month.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a media release that Erick Alvarez Hernandez, a 27-year-old Santa Ana resident, was charged with one felony county of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, forcible oral sex, attempted forcible rape and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.

A guilty verdict for every charge carries a maximum sentence of 41 years to life in prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 8 at the Orange County Central Men’s Jail, where he is currently being held, in Santa Ana.

The District Attorney’s Office outlined the events surround the night of the attack, only identifying the victim under a pseudonym.

“On Jan 5, at approximately 8:30 p.m. 52-year-old Jane Doe was sitting on a bench at a bus stop on the 1000 block of MacArthur Boulevard in Sana Ana,” the attorney’s office said. “Hernandez is accused of approaching the victim from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck and pulling her to a secluded area.”

The District Attorney’s Office also alleges that Hernandez punched and sexually assaulted the victim, before leaving the site of the crime when a bus pulled up to the stop.

Hernandez was arrested on Jan. 10 while leaving his workplace in Irvine on suspicion of sexual assault. Surveillance video near the bus stop showed a man, who police said was Hernandez, attacking a woman and walking away once a bus approached the stop.

The Santa Ana Police Department said evidence from a Buffalo Wild Wings at 3800 S. Bristol helped officers identify Hernandez as the suspect.

Hernandez was booked into the Orange County Central Men’s Jail with a $1 million bail.