Police arrested a man yesterday after he violently assaulted an acquaintance inside his residence and then fled the scene. The victim was admitted to a local hospital with major injuries.
On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at about 9:57 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from Alma Place at 753 Alma Street reporting a woman on the ground inside on the first floor, covered in blood, and calling for help. Police and personnel from the Palo Alto Fire Department responded immediately and located the victim, a woman in her fifties, with significant injuries to her head and neck. She provided a brief statement to police of what had occurred prior to paramedics transporting her to a local hospital. Hospital staff admitted the victim, who is now in stable condition and expected to survive.
The investigation revealed that the suspect, who had been acquainted with the victim for about a year, had allowed the victim to stay at his apartment the night before. In the morning, the suspect accused the victim of trying to steal some of his belongings. This turned into a verbal argument before the suspect struck the victim in the head and neck with an unknown metal object (possibly a hammer, which was later recovered at the scene). The suspect then left the apartment, leaving the victim behind with another adult female who was also present.
Officers and detectives actively followed leads which ultimately led to them locating the suspect in his vehicle (a silver 2000 Volkswagen Jetta) parked in the 1500 block of Almaden Expressway in San Jose at about 4:00 p.m. Police arrested him without incident.
Police booked 49-year-old Damian Michael Perez of Palo Alto into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for one count of assault with a deadly weapon (a felony). His booking photograph is available at www.cityofpaloalto.org/PAPDnews.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
