A 23-year-old man is accused of raping a 20-year-old mother and burglarizing three apartments Saturday night at a San Diego Youth Services housing community in the Midway District, San Diego police said.

Police identified the suspect as Diego Yanez. According to jail records, Yanez is charged with rape, burglary, assault and child cruelty. His bail was set at $1 million.

Police said Yanez was still inside the woman’s apartment at the gated housing complex on Wing Street when officers arrived. The woman, who had a 1-month-old infant, and her baby had escaped by then.

Yanez was not a tenant at the complex, according to San Diego Youth Services spokesperson Sandra Wellhausen. Residents said they did not know who he was or how he got inside.

“We have no idea. No one knows him or knew who he was,” resident Marianna Guardian said.

Guardian, a single mother who lives in the complex, said she has known the woman who was attacked for years.

“I am really close to the girl. I have known her years now, we went to high school together. She just gave birth a month or two prior. No one deserves to go through that,” she said.

The housing community serves young adults, some from the county’s foster program. It has security cameras, flood lights and an 8-foot wooden fence across the back. Its parking gate is automatic and can only be opened by residents.

Despite those security measures, police said Yanez got inside and burglarized three apartments.

“It makes us live in fear,” Guardian said.

Neighbor Samantha Long, 18, was not home when her apartment was broken into Saturday night. Long said her screens were broken and her belongings were disturbed.

“He pissed on my carpet. He threw my lotions around and messed up my AC,” Long said.

Long said she was disturbed to learn what happened to her next-door neighbor.

“That’s horrible, that’s horrible,” Long said.

The attack has left residents concerned about their safety.

“I have to carry like a knife around, pepper spray and I plan to get a taser,” Long said.

Yanez remains in custody and is due in court Wednesday.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.