Sleeping trucker sexually assaulted in 2020, CA officials say. Now man sentenced
A man sexually assaulted a truck driver as she stopped to rest in 2020, California prosecutors say.
Now, Jose Luis Meza Jr., 34, has been sentenced to 18 years and 8 months in prison in connection with the “violent sexual assault,” the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in an Oct. 28 news release.
Meza’s sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty in September to multiple felonies, including “assault with intent to commit rape and forcible oral copulation,” prosecutors said.
An attorney for Meza did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Oct. 29.
The truck driver was sleeping in the cab of her truck in an industrial area of Oxnard on Sept. 14, 2020, when she was startled awake by Meza entering the vehicle, prosecutors said.
Meza demanded the driver give him money, “then climbed into the sleeping area, where he physically restrained and sexually assaulted (her),” according to prosecutors.
However, the woman resisted, managed to escape and ran “to a nearby business for help” as Meza fled, the district attorney’s office said.
After responding to the area, prosecutors said officers collected a nearby business’ surveillance footage.
The video showed a man, who was “wearing a distinctive yellow sweatshirt,” leaving the driver’s truck and tossing a water bottle, according to prosecutors.
Officers found the water bottle, “which was later tested by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Forensic Services Bureau,” prosecutors said.
Testing found DNA was a match to Meza’s, the district attorney’s office said.
Meza also spoke with police the same day of the attack in separate incidents while “wearing a yellow sweatshirt,” prosecutors said.
Oxnard police partnered with District Attorney Investigator Greg Webb and arrested Meza on Aug. 13, 2024, according to prosecutors.
“The hard work of our forensic scientist partners at the Sheriff’s Forensic Services Bureau has again brought justice to another victim who deserved it,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Brent Nibecker said in the release.
The case was investigated as part of the Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, prosecutors said.
“VCSAKI is a countywide effort that was launched in 2022 to test every sexual assault kit for the presence of DNA and investigate unsolved cases,” prosecutors said, adding that the initiative is funded by grants from the United States Department of Justice.
As of Oct. 29, 1,835 kits have been tested, while an additional 1,011 are awaiting testing, according to the initiative’s website.
Oxnard is about a 60-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Sleeping trucker sexually assaulted in 2020, CA officials say. Now man sentenced."
