Neighbor who ‘sexually assaulted sleeping woman’ is caught by her MMA-trained brother who put him in choke hold and broke his arm
- David Ceja, 38, from California, charged with burglary and sexual assault
- Ceja is accused of breaking into a neighbor’s apartment in Santa Ana early Tuesday and groping her as she slept
- When the woman woke up and screamed for help, Ceja fled, but her brother gave chase and put him in a chokehold
- During a struggle, the MMA-trained brother broke Ceja’s arm
- Police say Ceja is a known gang member who had just been released from jail two days before the attack
David Ceja, 38, an ex-convict from California, has been charged with burglary and sexual assault for allegedly groping a woman in her sleep
Police in California say a known gang member messed with the wrong family when he broke into a neighbor’s apartment this week and sexually assaulted a sleeping woman, only to be collared by her brother trained in mixed martial arts.
According to a press release from the Santa Ana Police Department, officers were called to a home in the 1300 block of South Standard Avenue at around 6.22am on Tuesday for a report of a home invasion and sexual assault.
Arriving cops found the victim’s brother holding down the suspect, 38-year-old David Ceja, who was then taken to a hospital to be treated for a broken arm.
Ceja, who has an extensive criminal record, was later booked into the city jail on charges of burglary and sexual assault.
When interviewed by investigators, Ceja’s victim said she was awakened at around 5.40am by the sensation of someone touching her. She said she knew right away it was not her husband because he had left for work at 5am, reported KTLA.
When she turned to face the person groping her, she said she found a stranger in her bed and screamed for help.
Police say on Tuesday morning, Ceja, who had just been released form jail, broke into his neighbor’s apartment after her husband had left for work and assaulted her in bed
The perpetrator fled, with the victim’s adult brother following in pursuit.
It did not take long for the brother, who is trained in mixed martial arts, to catch up to the suspect and apprehend him by putting him in a chokehold that he said he had only recently learned from him nephew.
The brother, whom DailyMail.com is not naming to protect the privacy of his sister believed to be a victim of a sex crime, told CBS Los Angeles he was forced to loosen his grip on Ceja when he saw that he was about to lose consciousness.
The victim’s brother (pictured), who is trained in MMA, gave chase and put Ceja in a chokehold, holding onto him until police arrived to arrest him
During the struggle, the two men toppled to the ground, landing on Ceja’s arm and leaving him with a fracture.
As he was holding onto the 38-year-old suspect, the brother realized that he was not a stranger after all, but rather the family’s neighbor.
‘My understanding is, the family is all involved in MMA and kickboxing and so, this individual picked the wrong house to attack one of the family members,’ said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, with the Santa Ana Police Department.
Bertagna revealed that Ceja is affiliated with a local gang and had just gotten out of jail on early release two days prior to Tuesday incident, after serving time for making criminal threats and personally using a deadly weapon, according to ABC7.
Meanwhile, the victim has been left traumatized by the attack and is afraid to sleep with the lights off, according to her brother.