BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A man who allegedly raped a woman in a tunnel at the California Avenue train station in Palo Alto might need to get on antipsychotic medication before he is prosecuted, according to his public defender.
Judge Brian Buckelew suspended the case against Daniel Condronimpuno, 34, of Palm Beach, Fla., after a public defender declared that Condronimpuno’s mental competence is in doubt. The case moved from the Palo Alto Courthouse to San Jose yesterday, and doctors were appointed to examine Condronimpuno and recommend a treatment.
On April 9 at about 2:45 p.m., Condronimpuno allegedly passed a woman going the opposite direction as she was walking her bike through a tunnel at the Cal Ave. train station.
He turned around, snuck up behind her and shoved her to the ground, police said.
The woman hit her head on the pavement. Condronimpuno then allegedly rape her and choked her as she tried to call for help, prosecutors said.
The attack was interrupted by another person walking into the tunnel, at which point Condronimpuno allegedly took the woman’s phone and fled.
A couple of days later, UC-Berkeley police got in touch with Palo Alto investigators to say they were investigating a man matching Condronimpuno’s description who was inappropriately grabbing women on campus, according to prosecutors.
Campus police arrested Condronimpuno for one of the alleged assaults and turned him over to Palo Alto police on April 11.
Condronimpuno is facing eight felonies and has been in jail without bail since his arrest. If medication doesn’t work to restore his mental state, then he could be sent to a locked hospital in Napa.
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