After help from citizens and timely information broadcast from police dispatch, Santa Cruz Police Monday arrested a 35-year-old man with a sexual assault history who allegedly attacked two women.
Joey Patino Hernandez was arrested around Beach Street in the early morning hours after a 26-year-old woman called 9-11 to say that she had been assaulted by him. She fought him off and he assaulted a second woman, whose friends tried to chase him down.
Police cordoned off the area and found a suspect.
Neither woman was hurt.
Hernandez is a sex registrant who is on probation for a 2012 sexual battery, for which he received 30 days in jail and 36 months of probation, police said. He also has a history of drug related arrests from Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Capitola. Hernandez is currently transient with previous addresses in Watsonville and the Homeless Services Center at 115 Coral Street in Santa Cruz.
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