Homeless Man Arrested for Broad Daylight Streetside Rape

Santa Cruz Police arrested a 41-year-old homeless man for allegedly raping a 56-year-old woman alongside Highway 9 at 4:36 p.m. Thursday.

Shon Paul Darcey, 41, was arrested at the Homeless Services Center at 115 Coral St. after two women driving by Encinal and River streets called police to report that he had been having what appeared to be aggressive sex with a woman on the side of the road.

The woman was taken to Dominican Hospital and reported to be too drunk to have given consent to sex, according to police spokesman Zach Friend.

The two witnesses who were heading toward Felton said they passed by the couple once and then turned around to see whether the woman was alright. When they got back, the woman was there and the man was walking away, but they phoned 9-1-1 and gave his description.

Police found Darcey at the shelter and questioned him. They arrested him on suspicion of rape, rape of someone under the influence and oral copulation with someone under the influence.