El Monte police arrested a reputed gang member accused of raping a store cashier in the back of an El Monte store.
Joseph Leo Amaya, 18, is accused in the Oct. 19 attack at Peck Mini Mart in El Monte, police said. He allegedly blocked the exit and dragged the woman to the back of the shop where he raped her, police said.
"What he did was brutal and wrong and he will eventually be brought to justice," El Monte Police Sgt. Roger Cobian said during a press conference on Saturday night.
Amaya was being held in jail on rape charges, police said.
Dozens of public tips from as far as Santa Clara helped lead police to Amaya, a man they called a "major sexual predator."
Undercover police detectives found Amaya in the city of West Covina, but no futher details about his arrest were made available. Store surveillance cameras helped identify the suspect, officials said.
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