OAKLAND — A second suspect has been arrested in the robbery and beating of a man who told police he picked up two sex workers and took them to a hotel so they could eat snacks together and chat, court records show.
Raquel Ochoa, 22, was charged with second-degree robbery. She joins Clearlake resident Dwayne Yiggins, 18, who had already been charged in the Oct. 19 incident after his arrest in late November. Ochoa pleaded not guilty on Dec. 17, records show.
Yiggins is in jail, with bail set at $50,000, but Ochoa has been released, according to court records. When police identified Ochoa as a suspect and arrested her in an unrelated investigation in Salinas, she reportedly denied involvement in the robbery and said she’d been in New York at the time, records show. She told police she had previously been a sex worker but gave it up to work as a traveling dancer, authorities said.
Police say that on Oct. 19, the victim paid two sex workers $200 and took them to the Capri Motel on West MacArthur Boulevard, near Telegraph Avenue. When he got there, he was attacked by all five suspects, one of whom pepper sprayed him in the face, authorities said. Yiggins allegedly choked the man, and the group was able to steal his wallet, vape pen, phone and keys to his Toyota Prius, according to court records.
The man later told police that all he intended to do with the women was drink, have some snacks and enjoy some nice conversations, authorities said.
Yiggins told police he was just at the hotel to spend some time with his girlfriend, according to court records. He is next due in court on Feb. 3.