A sex worker testified Thursday that she thought she would die when a client choked her and hit her with his car three times after they had sex.
A sex worker testified Thursday that she thought she would die when a client choked her and hit her with his car three times after they had sex near the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland in October 2016.
The woman, whose name wasn’t disclosed in court, said she had consensual sex with 23-year-old Luis Enrique Garcia in the back seat of his red SUV after they met near the Fruitvale station in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, 2016.
Testifying at Garcia’s preliminary hearing on three counts of attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery, the woman, who’s now 21, said she told Garcia that it was time to go after they had sex, for which he paid her $80, but then he “squeezed my neck for a few minutes.”
The woman said she passed out and when she woke up she realized that they were in his car in a remote location in the Oakland hills.
The woman said she tried to get out of Garcia’s car but she couldn’t because the child safety lock had been activated.
The sex worker said Garcia finally allowed her to get out of his SUV but then he hit her with it three times when she tried to run away.
The woman, who broke down in tears at one point, said:
“I felt worried and scared and thought I was going to die.”
She said when she finally was able to run out of the range of Garcia’s car she hid in a canal in the hills for about half an hour because he was still looking for her and she could hear the sound of his engine.
The woman, who said she was cut up and bleeding, said she ultimately banged on the door of a nearby house and the homeowner called police, who came to her aid.
Prosecutors allege that the woman who testified today is one of three sex workers who Garcia attacked and dumped in secluded areas in the Oakland hills in the fall of 2016.
One of the alleged victims testified on Wednesday about an incident on Nov. 12, 2016, and when Garcia’s hearing resumes on Tuesday another alleged victim will testify about an incident that took place on Dec. 1, 2016.
At the end of the hearing, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner will determine if prosecutors produced sufficient evidence to have Garcia ordered to stand trial on the charges against him.
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