FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ) — Chief Jerry Dyer announced the arrest of 35-year-old parolee Joseph Ward of Fresno Wednesday morning.
On June 22, Ward allegedly broke into a northeast Fresno home, where a 24-year-old nanny was watching a 1-year-old baby.
Dyers says, “While the suspect was still holding this 10 in. kitchen knife in his hand, he then held it to the victim, and forced the victim to take off her clothes, and the suspect then sexually assaulted the victim, while the victim was holding the 1-year-old boy in her arms.”
Ward then forced the woman and the child into her car, and drove to an ATM, where he demanded that she withdraw cash.
She convinced him to let her go, and he later abandoned the car.
In announcing the arrest, the chief displayed some emotions, saying “I’m a parent first, and the first thing you think about is, could this have occurred to my daughter? Vould someone have forced their way into my daughter’s house, and sexually assaulted her?”
Ward, who’s on his third strike, is facing 12 felonies, and likely several life sentences.
