A 33-year-old man is being sought by the Morgan Hill Police
Department for an alleged assault that occurred earlier this year,
according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Morgan Hill – A 33-year-old man is being sought by the Morgan Hill Police Department for an alleged assault that occurred earlier this year, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Joshua J. L. Priest, of Morgan Hill, has an outstanding $10,000 warrant for assault with a deadly weapon and battery stemming from an incident Jan. 3 at the skate park in Morgan Hill, according to Swing.
At approximately 8:40pm, four teenage girls were allegedly physically assaulted by three males as they were walking home from the skate park.
Swing said the mother of one of the girls received two anonymous threatening phone calls, with the caller telling her daughter was going to be assaulted. She called her daughter on her cell phone and told her to come home.
As the girls were leaving the park, Swing said, they were approached by the three male suspects. One of them asked for the female victim by name, and then Priest allegedly raised a traffic construction cone over his head and struck the victim in the face, knocking her to the ground.
When she tried to get up, Priest allegedly knocked her back down to the ground.
At the same time, Swing said, one of the other male suspects was allegedly assaulting the victim’s younger sister, knocking her to the ground also and punching her with his fists.
When the alleged victim stood up, Priest allegedly swung at her with a claw hammer, but she jumped out of the way, Swing said. The encounter reportedly ended with one of the male suspects throwing a beer bottle at the girls. The bottle did not hit them, but shattered, spraying glass in their faces.
Swing said the girls ran to one of their residences at the Terracina Apartments and reported the attack.
The alleged victim received raised welts on her face and bumps on the back of her head.
MHPD detectives investigated the event and prepared a report for the District Attorney’s Office.
“We will now work to serve the warrant,” Swing said. “It’s a felony warrant, so we are not restricted by time of day. Of course, as has been the case recently, as Priest appears in the Time’s ‘Most Wanted,’ the community can certainly help us locate him.”
Anyone with information about Priest should not try to contact him but should contact the MHPD at (408) 779-2101.
