A 19-year-old San Mateo man is behind bars facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly approaching a woman riding her bicycle in Foster City and showing her a threatening message on his phone using Google Translate Tuesday, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Bryan Lopezcruz pleaded not guilty to felony threats, felony attempted robbery and misdemeanor false imprisonment at his first court appearance Thursday and the county’s private defender program was appointed to his case, according to prosecutors.
Just after 6 p.m. July 30, a 20-year-old woman was riding her bicycle on the 200 block of Port Royal Avenue when she stopped to check Google maps on her cellphone. Lopezcruz allegedly rode up to her on his bicycle and asked her if she spoke Portuguese. When she tried to ride away from him, he allegedly blocked her path with his bicycle, according to prosecutors.
Lopezcruz then allegedly opened Google Translate on his cellphone and showed her a message that read “shut up, shut up or you’ll die.” As the alleged victim tried to back away from him, he allegedly grabbed his crotch and attempted to take her cellphone. She was allegedly able to hold onto her phone, and dropped her bicycle to run away from him, according to prosecutors.
Though the woman attempted to contact the owners of the house nearest to the scene, no one was home and she allegedly hid behind a truck and called 911. Police officers found Lopezcruz, who allegedly matched the woman’s description, a short distance away from the scene and arrested him. Though she allegedly identified him as the man who approached her, he denied having anything to do with the incident, according to prosecutors.
Some 30 minutes before the incident, Lopezcruz allegedly approached a woman at her home on Beach Park Boulevard and asked her for water. When she returned with the drink, he allegedly opened Google Translate on his phone and showed her a sexually explicit message, causing her to tell him to leave, according to prosecutors.
Lopezcruz remains in custody on $50,000 bail, and will next appear in court Aug. 14 for preliminary hearing, according to prosecutors.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.