NAMPA, Idaho — A California man has been charged with sexually assaulting several victims around Nampa, including a sleeping 15-year-old girl.
Jose Ignacio Pimentel, 29, was initially arrested on September 27 for an outstanding failure-to-appear warrant from Twin Falls.
He was able to bail out of jail before police could gather enough evidence tying him to multiple crimes earlier that same day.
But it was on September 21 when police received their first report of what was happening.
A woman told officers she was followed by a man inside a store in the 2100 block of 12th Avenue Road.
The man allegedly touched the victim's buttocks an ran away before police arrived.
Then on September 27, a string of calls came in reporting separate instances of assault.
The first occurred in the early morning hours, when a 15-year-old sleeping in her bedroom in the 800 block of 7th Street S was touched on her buttocks by a man reaching through her window.
Once again the suspect fled before officers got on scene. This time, however, police obtained footage from neighbors of the suspect's vehicle leaving.
About four hours later another woman pumping gas in the 2400 block of 12th Avenue Road reported being approached from behind by a man who grabbed her buttocks.
An hour went by and yet another woman who was loading up her car witnessed a man walking closely behind her, but luckily her reaction chased him off.
After hours of searching, police identified Pimentel as a possible suspect. At the time, however, he could only be arrested on the warrant out of Twin Falls, so he was released early.
Meanwhile, detectives worked on getting access to his cell phone.
"From his phone, Forensic Investigators discovered videos Pimentel had taken of himself during several of these incidents, and they discovered he was exposing his penis during the crimes and using his genitalia, not his hands, to touch the victims."
This prompted another search for Pimentel.
On October 7 he struck again outside a business on 12th Avenue Road.
A woman there walking through the parking lot said she felt a man come from behind and touch her buttocks.
Responding officers located Pimentel leaving the scene, and tried stopping him but he refused.
A chase ensued and eventually officers lost him, until Idaho State Police spotted him on I-84.
He continued fleeing yet officers pulled off a Precision Intervention Technique (P.I.T.) to stop and arrest Pimentel near Meridian.
Since being re-arrested, another victim has come forward about a similar assault that happened on September 27 on 12th Avenue Road.
Based off what they found in his phone, police suspect there are more victims.
“It is unfortunate that there are predators like this in society. Mr. Pimentel was in our community while working for a corporation in the region, and we want our community to know his disgusting actions are not welcome here, and we’ll continue to work diligently to keep him away from additional victims,” said Lt. Brian Jones of the Nampa Police Department. “We are proud of the women who came forward to report these crimes, and we hope others will reach out if they were part of his crime spree.”
Anyone with information can reach Detective Corporal Jeffrey Stark at 208-468-5584 or via email at starkj@cityofnampa.us.
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