Berkeley police said Paula Moa Funaki offered to give a woman a ride home but instead sexually assaulted her in his car. Credit: Kelly SullivanA Hayward man is facing charges of rape and kidnapping after an arrest in Northeast Berkeley Sunday night.
The victim, a woman, thought 24-year-old Paula Moa Funaki was giving her a ride to her husband’s house, but he instead drove to a section of Wildcat Canyon Road, pulled over and raped her, telling her “he would hit her if she screamed,” according to court records filed by city police.
When the woman got out of the car, Funaki “told her he would punch her if she told anyone,” according to a police report.
When the woman met with police officers, she turned over some of Funaki’s semen she had saved as evidence, police said. Police stopped Funaki nearby that same night, at Spruce Street and Glen Avenue, and the woman identified him there through a video call, police said. The city’s network of license plate readers put Funaki’s car roughly 2/5 of a mile from the victim about five minutes before police first got a call, police said.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed charges Tuesday against Funaki of kidnapping to commit a sex crime, forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, according to court records.
Funaki was arraigned Wednesday, with a county public defender appearing on his behalf, and pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. He is scheduled for court hearings Monday and again on Jan. 2. He has been in custody at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin since his arrest Sunday.
The arrest was previously reported by The Berkeley Scanner.
Alameda Health System’s Sexual Assault Response and Recovery Team (SARRT) has a 24-hour crisis line at (510) 534-9290 and offers counseling, advocacy and other services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR) has a 24-hour hotline in English and Spanish at (510) 800-4247. The organization offers counseling, support and a Sexual Assault Response Team that coordinates police, prosecutors, victim and witness advocates, medical personnel and specially trained nurse examiners.
Statewide and national resources and hotlines are available on the Office of the Attorney General’s website.
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Alex N. Gecan joined Berkeleyside in 2023 as a senior reporter covering public safety. He has covered criminal justice, courts and breaking and local news for The Middletown Press, Stamford Advocate and... More by Alex N. Gecan
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