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Published on 05/20/1996 All articles from this issue

Fourth woman files complaint against Rosario

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

A preliminary hearing for a Los Altospolice officer charged with groping a female prisoner and usingunlawful force on two other women was postponed last week whena fourth woman filed complaints against the officer.

Rafael Rosario, 30, a five-year veteran of the Los Altos PoliceDepartment, now faces a total of six criminal charges, involvingfour different women. The most serious of the charges is felonysexual assault. The two new charges are misdemeanors, for unlawfulforce and false imprisonment.

Deputy District Attorney JoAnne McCracken added the new criminalcharges against Rosario in Palo Alto Municipal Court May 18 whenthe preliminary hearing had been scheduled. McCracken is one ofseven deputies on the sexual assault team in the Santa Clara CountyDistrict Attorney's Office.

Rosario's attorney, Larry Peterson, refused to bring his clientinto the courtroom because there was a Town Crier photographerpresent. The Town Crier had filed the appropriate paper work withthe court for permission to bring a camera into the courtroom.The presiding judge, Douglas Southard, had signed the authorization.

"I have a lot of problems with that," Peterson said.Rosario was an undercover narcotics officer, worked with otherofficers, and "the safety of the other officers and informantscould be in jeopardy - as well as officer Rosario" if hispicture was in the paper.

Peterson formally requested that the judge ban any courtroom photosof Rosario.

The judge ruled to deny photos of Rosario. "I did not foreseeID problems," Southard told the courtroom.

Rosario then came into the courtroom and pleaded not guilty tothe new charges.

He has been on paid administrative leave from the Los Altos PoliceDepartment since Feb. 23 when the district attorney's office notifiedLos Altos of its investigation into the complaints against Rosario.

On March 22, the day before his 30th birthday, Rosario was arrestedand pleaded not guilty to the original four criminal charges.These resulted from complaints by three different women regardingincidents in Los Altos from Nov. 2, 1995, to Feb. 20, 1996. Thetwo new charges are from events on Jan. 8, 1996.

The fourth victim was found by the Los Altos Police Departmentwhich then referred the woman's complaint to the district attorney,said Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton.

Rosario had worked on a county undercover narcotics task forcefor about three years before being called back to duty in LosAltos in November 1995.

This is not the first time Rosario's on-duty behavior has promptedcomplaints and an internal affairs investigation of his behavior.Carlton confirmed that in 1992 there was an internal affairs investigationof Rosario for use of excessive force against an 18-year-old.

"Rosario allegedly "stun-gunned" his son, saidLos Altos resident Kurt Hammerstrom. The son was a bystander duringa traffic stop made by Rosario.

The Los Altos Police Department is currently conducting an internalaffairs investigation of these new complaints while at the sametime Rosario faces criminal charges in the courts.

The most serious of Rosario's charges, felony sexual assault,stems from a Nov. 23 drunk driving arrest Rosario made. He allegedlyfondled the woman's breasts during three different searches thathe made when no one else was around.

Jane Doe 2 was discussing Rosario's behavior with two grocerystore clerks, according to court documents, when Jane Doe 3 overheardand realized they were speaking of the same person. The two womenhad never met before they found each other by accident in theLos Altos grocery store.

They began to wonder and become concerned "how many othergirls Rosario has harassed and intimidated," the court documentsaid.

McCracken said that from her experience on the district attorney'ssexual assault team, "victims feel alone and often fear retaliation.They can be intimidated by the factor of the offender being apolice officer."

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