Rape and robbery start off new year
Local police started off 2001 by nabbing an armed robber and a rapist, resulting from two separate incidents on New Year’s Day.
The alleged armed robber, identified as David Alanzo Batiz of Culver City, was captured by Santa Monica Police in the Pico neighborhood after he threatened a gas station attendant with a knife.
Batiz allegedly pulled a knife on an employee at UNOCAL gas station on Pico Boulevard and 20th Street after the attendant refused to fill gas into Batiz’s plastic water bottle. He put the knife to the attendant’s stomach before running north on Pico Boulevard. Police found him on the 2100 block of Court 20. The gas station employee identified him and Batiz was booked for attempted armed robbery. His bail was set at $35,000.
Earlier that morning, police arrested a San Francisco man for allegedly raping a woman in a Santa Monica hotel room.
Semj Deshields, 32, was arrested on charges of sexual assault, oral copulation and sodomy after police found him behind a Jack in the Box restaurant at the Rest Haven Motel on Lincoln Boulevard. He is being held on $100,000 bail.
At about 2:30 a.m., a woman came to the Santa Monica Police Department and reported that she had been raped. She told police that she met Deshields on New Year’s Eve in Hollywood. Deshields allegedly drove the victim to the Rest Haven Motel, where she said he used physical force and threats before allegedly raping her.
After the assault, the victim left the motel room and waved down a passing motorist who drove her to the police department. Officers immediately secured the motel room and the victim identified the suspect at the scene.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 4, 2002. Read the original PDF.