A man who described himself as an “incel” wanted in connection with several violent attacks against women in Orange County has been arrested in San Mateo County, officials announced Tuesday.
Johnny Deven Young, 25, of Anaheim, was taken into custody recently on an a warrant in San Mateo County and has been charged with four felony counts of assault with great bodily injury, four felony counts of illegal use of tear gas, four felony enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon, and eight felony hate crime enhancements. He also faces five misdemeanor counts of violation of civil rights, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
He was transported to Orange County jail last week after being convicted on the misdemeanor case in San Mateo County. He also has a prior misdemeanor hate crime conviction in Nevada, officials said.
Young would allegedly record himself making sexually explicit comments to women and would sometimes spray them with a chemical agent, officials had previously explained.
The criminal case against Young involves four women and a man who tried to stop one of the assaults.
In one case last November, Costa Mesa police discovered two victims were at a local bar and had been separated. A 29-year-old woman later saw a 24-year-old man on the ground and stopped to help him when a man confronted her.
The suspect, later identified as Young, began “verbally harassing” the woman, using “explicit language, saying he wanted to see her genitals, and asked to have sexual relations with her,” police said.
The man who was on the ground saw Young harassing the woman and ran to help her. But as the man approached, Young allegedly used a chemical agent to spray the man and the woman, police said.
Young was able to get away before authorities arrived.
Months later, Costa Mesa police learned about a video posted on social media of a man confronting women with sexual explicit language and later spraying them with a chemical agent.
The video showed two different incidents: In one, the man, later identified as Young, verbally harasses a woman and follows her through a parking structure. The second incident involved several woman sitting on a bench at the Triangle retail center in Costa Mesa, police said.
Investigators learned Young has a history of targeting or stalking women outside of clubs, bars and in fitness centers. He allegedly approached and followed women while using explicit language and said he wanted to have sex with them while recording the encounters.
Two victims had previously come forward and described their encounters with Young, during which they said they were pepper sprayed by the defendant.
Police had been searching for Young and his white and green Chevrolet cargo van. He was previously described as a transient with ties to Orange and San Diego counties and had last lived in
Las Vegas.
Young’s bail was set at $500,000 and his arraignment was continued to Oct. 10. He faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in state prison if convicted on all counts.
“No one should have to live in fear that they could be indiscriminately attacked and then publicly humiliated on the Internet because of their gender,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “This behavior is disgusting and the celebration of this behavior by like-minded individuals is completely unacceptable. These charges send a very strong message to that entire community that we will not tolerate violence against women in any form.”