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A man arrested last week for allegedly dragging a woman from her Mountain View home told police that he had a severe reaction to methamphetamine and thought he was being pursued by someone who was trying to kill him.
Jeremiah Porter, 33, a transient, was recently released from jail when Mountain View police arrested him near the Palo Alto border on Feb. 18 after reports that he allegedly forced his way into a home on Montelena Court and attacked the woman inside. He was also accused of holding another woman and her daughter hostage for half an hour later that night.
The victim later identified Porter, who was discovered by police nearby nearly five hours later, standing on top of a car port at an apartment complex. He remains in county jail without bail on charges of attempted kidnapping during a carjacking, robbery and assault with force.
Court documents show Porter had previously served a prison term for a violent felony conviction.
The 53-year-old victim told police that the man she identified as Porter arrived at her house and rang the doorbell shortly before 10:22 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17. When she answered the door, he allegedly pushed his way inside and insisted that someone was trying to kill him, according to court documents. The victim was alone in the house at the time of the invasion, and told police Porter grabbed her by the throat with both hands and pushed her against a wall to get her to stop screaming. She suggested to Porter that she could drive him somewhere safe, grabbed her keys and went to the garage, where Porter allegedly tried to push her into the vehicle.
The victim was able to break away from Porter and run out the open garage door to a neighbor’s house to call police. The vehicle’s engine was still running when officers arrived and the vehicle sticking partially out of the garage, according to the police report.
Blood stains were found on both the steering column of the car and the victim’s jacket, which police believe was left by Porter. During the altercation, the victim noted that Porter had what police later described as “bright red, fresh” cuts on both of his hands when officers were arresting him.
Porter told police he had been released from custody a few days prior at some point cutting off an ankle monitor and made his way to Saratoga, where he met with a man and shared meth with him. Porter later traveled to Santa Clara and took a Valley Transportation Authority bus to Mountain View, during which he reportedly became paranoid.
“He said the meth had a very severe effect on him, and caused him to have delusions that he was being followed and to think that someone was trying to kill him,” according to the police report.
Porter told police he hid in the courtyard of an apartment complex before approaching the victim’s home on Montelena Court. He said he did not remember pushing the victim into a wall, choking her or attempting to get into her vehicle. After fleeing the victim’s garage, Porter said he jumped a large fence or wall and found himself in the yard of another residence, where he saw two women folding towels.
“He explained that he still believed that he was being surveilled and that there was a conspiracy to channel him into a desirable location to kill him,” the police report said. “He feared that the women had towels to soak up his blood when he was killed.”
Mountain View police say that the woman and her daughter came forward days later and said that Porter had entered their home and held them hostage for roughly half an hour before leaving. Additional details on the hostage incident were not immediately available in court records.
Porter’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 24. Police are requesting anyone who may have seen Porter from Feb. 14 through Feb. 17 to contact Detective Matt Atkins at matthew.atkins@mountainview.gov.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
