A man is being held on $2 million bail after allegedly breaking into a couple's house Tuesday morning near Northeast Tacoma, tying up a person, raping his 72-year-old wife and leaving with gold and diamond rings.
The alleged home invader was a stranger to the couple, according to court documents and law enforcement, which is uncommon in sexual assault cases. He was arrested hours later when detectives with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department tracked the victims' stolen phones to a residence near Parkland.
Jose Javier Barragan, 21, was charged Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court with two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and first-degree robbery and burglary.
Pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf at arraignment Wednesday afternoon. Pro tem Judge Jack Nevin set bail. The defendant was listed as homeless in a pretrial services report, and records state he has a father who lives near Parkland. Barragan has criminal history in California, according to the report, but no known prior convictions.
"When we get stuff like this, it's taken extremely seriously," Sheriff's Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss told The News Tribune. "We're glad we were able to apprehend him immediately."
Moss said sexual assaults of strangers are very uncommon. Most of the sexual assault cases the department handles are for suspects who are known to the victim. Nationally, in cases where a female reported being raped, 91.9 percent of cases involved an intimate partner or acquaintance, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, citing a 2010 survey.
This is the third sexual-assault case involving a stranger the department has seen in a week, Moss said. On Monday, a 17-year-old boy was charged with attempted rape and attempted kidnapping for allegedly grabbing a delivery driver and trying to pull her into his South Hill home. Moss said another rape was reported Tuesday night after two people met up through a dating app. He called the rash of incidents strange and concerning.
Suspect arrested wearing stolen rings
Barragan was arrested after he fled from deputies on a dirt bike, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Detectives tracked the victims' stolen phones to a house in the 10600 block of 10th Avenue Court South and set up surveillance.
A man matching the victims' description left there on the bike, and deputies initiated a traffic stop, but the man accelerated away, running red lights as he fled. He hit speeds of 90 mph, records state, and he eventually stopped on 112th Street South and was taken into custody.
Detectives interviewed the man, identified as Barragan, at the Sheriff's Department's South Hill precinct. He allegedly claimed he'd been at his home all night. Detectives noted he was wearing two gold rings, one of which had 10 diamonds. According to the probable cause document, the victims' reported that two rings were stolen from them, including one 14K gold ring with 10 diamonds.
More items stolen from the victims' home were recovered after detectives were granted a search warrant for the house Barragan was tracked to, records state. Those included Apple Airpods, Fitbit wristbands, keys to the couple's car and a blue and orange Denver Broncos phone case.
Sheriff's deputies were called to the couple's home near Dash Point just after 6 a.m. for a report of a home-invasion robbery and rape. A 72-year-old woman reportedly told a deputy she and her husband were asleep in their third-floor master bedroom when they were awakened by a man who said, "You're being robbed, shut up, you're being robbed."
The woman's husband was connected to a dialysis machine, and Barragan reportedly tied his hands with a belt and told him not to move while leading his wife to another bedroom.
In an interview with detectives at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, the woman said she was raped in the adjacent room, records state. At one point, the defendant allegedly told her he had a gun and placed something wrapped in a towel against her head.
Before leaving, Barragan allegedly asked where a safe was. The couple said they didn't have one, and the man then asked where the valuables were. According to the probable cause document, they told him to look around and take what he wanted. The woman told detectives the man ran from their home after taking things.
It's unclear how Barragan traveled to and from the couple's house, but a key to a Chrysler was found in his pocket when he was arrested, records state. When law enforcement canvassed the victims' neighborhood, one neighbor said he'd seen a man parked outside his house in a silver Chrysler 300.
