A 23-year-old man is behind bars on $1 million bail after San Diego police say he broke into three apartments in the Midway District, sexually assaulted a woman, and forced her to flee with her one-month-old baby to escape. The incident, reported around 10 PM last Saturday at the 3200 block of Wing Street, unfolded at a gated transitional housing complex for young adults leaving foster care or homelessness.
Police arrested Diego Yanez inside the victim's apartment, according to Fox 5 San Diego and KUSI News. He now faces charges including rape, false imprisonment, assault and burglary. The outlet reports that the woman called for help and escaped with her infant, who was not harmed during the incident, and that she was later treated at a nearby hospital.
Officers responded to the complex, which includes San Diego Youth Services' main office alongside the gated living community, and confirmed there is no ongoing threat to the public, per the same report. On-site staff with the nonprofit responded immediately, and a spokesperson for San Diego Youth Services said the safety and well-being of young people and staff remain the organization's highest priorities. The organization says it is cooperating fully with law enforcement, gathering information about the circumstances of the incident, and assessing what additional security measures may be needed.
Witnesses Describe a Chaotic, Violent Scene
Additional details from the night paint a disturbing picture beyond what police have confirmed. According to 619 News Media, a witness described the suspect running naked around the complex while appearing to suffer a mental health crisis, and one resident said the intruder entered her unit, urinated on her carpet, threw hygiene products, and damaged her air conditioner.
The outlet's report also cites police dispatch records and initial reports from the scene indicating a female resident was assaulted with a weapon before being evaluated by paramedics on site — a detail that adds to, but has not been independently confirmed against, the account of the woman who fled with her baby. The resident whose apartment was vandalized publicly criticized property management over what she described as inadequate security measures, the outlet reported.
A Site With a History of Violence
This is not the first violent episode at the property. Less than three months before the break-ins, on June 2, a drive-by shooting struck the same 3200 block of Wing Street, wounding a 14-year-old boy in the left buttocks and shattering the windshield of a passing military member's vehicle, 619 News Media reported at the time. Nearby residents said they heard as many as 10 gunshots during that incident.
The surrounding Midway District corridor has seen other flashpoints of police activity. In February, a separate violent incident near Midway Drive and Wing Street led SDPD SWAT officers to deploy tear gas to arrest a suspect who barricaded himself in a motel after assaulting a manager, according to the Times of San Diego. That standoff forced police to close Midway Drive between East Drive and Wing Street for several hours.
Inside the Take Wing Program
The 3255 Wing Street facility houses San Diego Youth Services' Take Wing transitional living program, established in 1994. It offers 33 semi-furnished apartments providing up to 18 to 24 months of housing for homeless youth and young adults aging out of foster care, according to background compiled by the Junior League of San Diego. The program serves residents ages 16 to 24 with case management and life-skills training.
San Diego Youth Services was founded in 1970 as one of the nation's first emergency shelters for runaway youth. The nonprofit now assists more than 14,000 vulnerable young people annually across more than 100 community and school locations countywide, the organization notes in its own history.
Regional Progress Meets Local Setback
The Wing Street incidents come even as regional data shows improvement in youth homelessness outcomes. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness San Diego's 2026 Point-in-Time Count, released in May, found unsheltered homelessness among transitional-age youth ages 18 to 24 dropped 26% year-over-year, with 433 youth placed in sheltered programs and 222 still unsheltered. Overall homelessness across the county fell 1% from 2025 to 2026, per the task force's report.
Broader demographic data underscores who is most affected by housing instability among the county's young people. San Diego County Data Portal figures for the 2022-2023 school year showed Hispanic or Latino youth represented 71.2% of all homeless public school students, despite making up 49.1% of overall student enrollment, with 3.5% of the county's public school students experiencing homelessness that academic year.
Legal Exposure for the Suspect
The charges Yanez faces carry serious consequences under California law. A felony rape conviction under California Penal Code Section 261 carries a state prison sentence of three, six, or eight years and mandates lifetime registration on California's sex offender registry, according to legal guidance from Eisner Gorin LLP. California law defines rape as non-consensual sexual intercourse accomplished through force, fear, or duress.
The false imprisonment charge also carries potential felony weight. Under California Penal Code Sections 236 and 237, false imprisonment without physical force is typically a misdemeanor, but the offense becomes a felony punishable by state imprisonment when accomplished through violence, menace, fraud, or deceit, per an explainer from the Kraut Law Group.
San Diego police have asked anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Yanez remains in custody on $1 million bail as the investigation continues.
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