20-year-old Damian Antonio Padilla was charged with Kidnapping under PC 270(a), and trying to dissuade a witness from testifying against him for his actions during a domestic violence incident in which he attacked his former girlfriend in her home.
On Wednesday, June 10, Padilla reportedly went to the victim’s home, and carried her out to his car against her will. The victim stated that Padilla had grabbed her shirt and pulled her toward him as he took her cell phone from her hands. Padilla then carried the female victim to his car and threw her inside. He quickly sped off driving at high rates of speed along Northbound Interstate 680 and exiting onto Berryessa Road, in San Jose not far from the Milpitas Border.
Padilla has said that he wanted to take her on a drive so that they could iron out their differences, as they had done many times before. They have a child in common and that had become the center of an ongoing argument. However, during this particular incident, Padilla had taken her against her will. She had asked him several times to let her out of the vehicle, and when she tried to escape he would grab her shirt and hold her in the vehicle. Padilla told officers that he had did this in fear for her own safety, as they were driving on the freeway. Finally after arguing for little more than an hour, Padilla took her back home.
The victim then called police to report what had just happened. Officers quickly responded to Padilla’s home and took him into custody. After reading the suspect his rights, he was questioned about the incident. He told officers that he knew nothing about the kidnapping and that he had picked up the victim and was going to take her to the movies, but he said they decided to cancel the movie.
Padilla told investigating officers that he had been outside of her residence for approximately an hour, waiting for his ex-girlfriend to arrive home. When she arrived home, the suspect said he was upset and wanted to talk to her about who she was dating. He said that when he dropped her off after finishing the argument, the female victim had tried to kiss and hug him before he left. But, he said, after she had lied so many times to him he rebuffed her advances.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office “The Domestic Violence Unit of the Family Violence Division prosecutes domestic violence crimes.” In many incidents where domestic violence is reported, the defendant or (perpetrator) and victim who know each other, and often have children together. According to the Family Violence Division, “Women in the U.S. are in nine times more danger in their own homes than they are in the street. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 95 percent of reported spousal assaults are committed by men against women.”
Officers served an Emergency Restraining Order against Padilla as he was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail. The next court hearing has been scheduled for July 7, 2015 in Dept. 44 at 9:00 AM.
