Union City police: Woman used secret coded text to alert sister she was being raped

UNION CITY — A local resident has been charged with raping a woman inside his home, a crime that police say was only discovered after the victim sent a coded text to her sister.

Ricardo Tijero, 38, of Union City, has been charged with rape and forcible oral copulation, and is being held at Santa Rita Jail in lieu of $220,000 bail, court records show. Tijero denied the allegations, claiming that he met the alleged victim on a prostitution site and that she refused to leave his home, authorities said.

The woman confirmed to police that Tijero reached out to her on a sex worker website and offered her $1,000 to come to his home for several hours. But once she got there, he revealed he didn’t have the money and allegedly choked her to the point of unconsciousness when she said she wanted to leave, according to police.

When she regained consciousness, Tijero allegedly sexually assaulted her. At some point, the woman was able to text her sister, but sneaked an alert through the text; she allegedly texted about her son but deliberately used the wrong name. Her sister noticed the abnormality, took it as a sign that something was wrong and called a mutual friend to go check on the woman at Tijero’s Union City home, authorities said.

When the woman arrived at Tijero’s 7th Street residence, he began acting “aggressive” and refused to let her inside, so she called 911, authorities said in court filings. When police arrived, they interviewed Tijero and the alleged victim separately, then placed him under arrest.

Tijero has a prior conviction for assault likely to produce great bodily injury, records show. He also has unrelated pending cases for charges of possessing burglary tools and petty theft, according to jail records. His next court date has been set for Nov. 22.