Videos spur San Jose man’s arrest in sex assault attempts

San Jose police say this man followed a woman into a market on April 2 and tried to sexually assault her. He did the same thing to a 13-year-old girl, following her home on May 5, police say San Jose police say this man followed a woman into a market on April 2 and tried to sexually assault her. He did the same thing to a 13-year-old girl, following her home on May 5, police say Photo: San Jose Police Photo: San Jose Police Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Videos spur San Jose man’s arrest in sex assault attempts 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

San Jose police arrested a suspect Friday in connection with the attempted sexual assaults of a woman and a 13-year-old girl.

Mohammad Khaliqi, 31, of San Jose was taken into custody at 10:25 a.m. on the 1400 block of School Street in San Leandro, said San Jose police Sgt. Enrique Garcia.

Khaliqi was booked at Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose on suspicion of numerous counts of burglary, attempted sexual assault and false imprisonment. He is being held without bail.

The suspect had been captured on surveillance cameras in both cases, and had a curly hair and beard. Khaliqi appears to have considerably less facial hair, and his hair appears to have been shaved in his booking photo.

“This is one of the most heinous crimes that I’ve seen,” Deputy Police Chief Shawny Williams said at a news conference. “This is a sexual predator that is off the streets now, but this was a very alarming crime to me, and I’ve been here 22 years.”

Khaliqi lived on Troy Drive, within walking distance of the two attacks, but left his home “in the middle of the night” and altered his appearance after his picture was widely circulated on television and on social media, Williams said.

The most recent incident happened about 4 p.m. Tuesday, when the suspect followed a 13-year-old girl as she walked from school to her home on the 4000 block of Rio Vista Avenue, police said.

As the girl unlocked her front door, the man walked up to her and spoke with her. Feeling uncomfortable, she went inside her home, but home surveillance video shows the man forcing his way inside and pushing her up against a wall. She fought back, and he left, authorities said.

About 12:55 p.m. April 2, the man followed a 28-year-old woman into the restroom at Mitsuwa Market at 675 Saratoga Ave. and tried to attack her before leaving, police said.

Police said they were stunned by the brazenness of the attacks, which happened in broad daylight.

“He’s a sexual predator,” Williams said. “In my opinion, he’s a monster.”

But he added, “The survivors that survived this attack can rest assured now that that predator is off the streets. So I am very relieved, as a chief, as a police officer and as a citizen that that suspect is off the streets.”

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com