An East Palo Alto man is in custody after authorities said he wrote a woman’s name in blood outside her home and carved it into his arm.
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department arrested 22-year-old Jonathan Derasacosta on Thursday for stalking and disobeying a court order, among other charges. Deputies said Derasacosta and the victim, an unidentified woman, first met in 2016. While he allegedly "wanted to be more than friends" beginning in 2019, the victim did not and moved to San Diego to attend college.
Derasacosta was arrested by UC San Diego Police in March 2019 for stalking and violating a restraining order. He was later released from jail, then arrested again in San Diego three months later for the same offense.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was released from jail earlier this year.
By that time, the victim had moved back to San Carlos to continue as a student via online courses. That’s when deputies said Derasacosta wrote her name on a wall outside her home, using "what appeared to be red substance (possibly blood)."
Derasacosta was taken into custody Thursday following a lengthy investigation.
He’s held at the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City on $500,000 bail.