A man suspected of committing at least two sexual assaults that targeted members of the LGBTQ+ community in Hillcrest was charged this week in San Diego Superior Court with kidnapping and sexual assault, investigators said.
Michael William Howard, 41, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to sexually assaulting a man on or around July 13, the criminal complaint reads.
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San Diego police sex crimes detectives did not provide any further information this week about the July 13 incident. Police said Howard was a suspect in at least one other sexual assault in Hillcrest and that he had outstanding warrants for his arrest in Texas on unrelated allegations.
Additional details on the second Hillcrest assault or Texas warrants were not immediately available Thursday.
He is being held at George Bailey Detention Facility without bail, prosecutors said.
The charges against Howard were filed three days after he was arrested by police at the San Diego Pride Festival in Balboa Park, according to police Lt. Travis Easter.
Easter said officers with the police department’s special events team spotted Howard walking by their command post in the park around 2:55 p.m. on Sunday and believed he matched the description of a suspect from two recent sexual assaults.
Easter said evidence collected so far does not lead investigators to believe the sexual assaults were hate crimes, but added that both incidents are still under investigation.