DALTON, Ga. — A north Georgia man was convicted earlier this week of breaking into his neighbor’s house and trying to rape her and her friend.
Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bert Poston said that in July 2021, 21-year-old Carlos Adrian Garcia broke into a young woman’s house in Dalton, Ga. by breaking out a window.
A Whitfield County jury convicted him of two counts of attempted rape and one count of burglary.
They say that the 18-year-old victim who lived in the home had another 18-year-old friend staying the night while her mother was away visiting a sick relative, despite not knowing the victims personally.
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The young women heard someone breaking in and one called police while the other called the homeowner.
They later told police they saw Garcia and heard what sounded like a snack package being opened, but was later determined to be the packaging of a condom.
Within minutes, Whitfield County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the house and found the two victims who were unharmed and got them out of the house.
Other deputies found Garcia hiding in the home’s laundry room. He had started undressing and had the open condom. A second condom package was later found in his pocket.
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Prosecutors say a pair of one of the victims’ underwear was also found in Garcia’s pocket. It was believed that he stole them while hiding in the laundry room.
Garcia was drunk during the incident, according to prosecutors, but when he was interviewed several days later, he admitted to breaking into the home, but did not comment on why he was inside the home.
Garcia told investigators that he was “being dumb” that night, according to the prosecutors.
Poston says that Garcia remained in the Whitfield County Jail for several months before being released on a $100,000 bond and confined to house arrest. He was taken back into custody after the conviction and will remain there until sentencing.
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Superior Court Judge Scott Minter set Garcia’s hearing date for September 2. He faces up to 80 years in prison.
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