San Joaquin County sheriff detectives arrested a second person Monday during an ongoing human trafficking investigation that began at an east Stockton hotel. A third suspect remains on the loose.
Les Garcia with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office said the investigation initially began on Nov. 11 when deputies responded to a report of a female in a Stockton hotel lobby asking the clerk to call 911.
When deputies arrived to the 4200 block of East Highway 88 in Stockton, they conducted a traffic stop on a suspect's vehicle. The suspect was later identified as 23-year-old Dominick Diaz, Garcia said.
A 20-year-old female victim and a 22-year-old female victim were inside the vehicle at the time of the stop.
Garcia said that one of the victims told deputies that she and the other victim had been forced into prostitution, with incidents happening every day, two to three times per day. These incidents happened in Stockton, Tracy, San Jose, Lake Tahoe and the Reno, Nevada, areas according to the victims. The victim told deputies that these actions were all against her will, Garcia said.
The victims said that they were staying at the hotel on East Highway 88 in Stockton when an unknown subject and Diaz entered their hotel room, held them at gunpoint and forced them into a residence in Tracy before they were brought back to the Stockton hotel.
Diaz was then arrested and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail, Garcia said.
On Monday, around 7:00 a.m, sheriff detectives, assisted by Tracy police and SWAT teams, served search warrants in the city of Tracy in connection to the ongoing human traffic investigation.
Search warrants were issued to three residences: one in the 1500 block of Lincoln Boulevard, another in the 200 block of West Whittier Avenue and the third in the 300 block of Ranchero Way.
Erwin Molina-Almonte, 19, was arrested at the Ranchero Way residence and was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on multiple charges, Garcia said.
Rafael Garcia Jr, 25, fled the Whittier residence. He was described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds. Garcia Jr. has black hair, brown eyes and is wanted for parole violation and sexual assault, Garcia said.
Below is a collection of mugshots of people arrested in Northern California
