A judge last week sentenced a man 121 years to life in prison for grabbing two people with the intent to sexually assault then in two incidents days apart at the same Target store in midtown Sacramento.
On Friday, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Tami Bogert sentenced Jevis Julian Jones, 50, for the two incidents that occurred last year at the Target store on J Street, according to a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
A jury on Nov. 19 found Jones guilty of kidnapping with intent to commit sexual assault, two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual assault, two counts of false imprisonment, sexual battery and false impersonation, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The first incident occurred April 30 at the J Street Target store. A woman working as a janitor at the Target was getting something from the janitor’s closet.
Prosecutors said Jones followed the janitor into the closet and grabbed her buttocks. She turned and started to scream.
Jones tried to cover the janitor’s mouth before he left the store, according to the DA’s Office. Police found Jones a few blocks away, but he gave police his brother’s name instead of his own. Police cited and released Jones.
On May 3, another female was at the same Target store when Jones ran up and grabbed her from behind while covering her mouth, prosecutors said. Jones forced her to the back of the store, but he ran away as employees approached them, according to the DA’s Office.
Police arrested Jones’ brother as a suspect in both assaults at the Target store. Prosecutors said the brother identified Jones as the suspect on security camera video. Police found Jones near the midtown Target store and arrested him.
Authorities later learned that Jones was wanted on suspicion of violating parole for failing to report to authorities after being released from prison six days earlier. Prosecutors said Jones admitted to police that he committed the assaults at the Target store.
Jones had two previous convictions considered strikes under California’s “Three Strikes” law. Prosecutors said Jones’ has numerous previous convictions with crimes of “increasing seriousness.”
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Rosalio Ahumada writes breaking news stories related to crime and public safety for The Sacramento Bee. He speaks Spanish fluently and has worked as a news reporter in the Central Valley since 2004.