By Brian Anderson
Valley Times

Oct. 19, 2001

PLEASANTON — A door-to-door magazine salesman posing as a neighbor needing help to become a massage therapist talked his way into a Pleasanton home and molested a house cleaner, officials said Thursday. The adult woman told police she was cleaning a Martin Avenue house Oct. 2 when she heard a knock at the door. The woman said she opened the door only after the man said he was a neighbor and needed just a few minutes of her time, police said. Investigators wrote the man said he was close to becoming a certified masseuse and needed two volunteers to work on. After initially declining, the woman reluctantly agreed, police said. He massaged her back while on the living room floor then began rubbing her legs after asking her to turn over, court records showed. She told police she realized the massage was getting sexual and ordered the man to stop touching her. Instead, police said he shoved his hands into her shorts, then pulled them back out. The woman told police he apologized before leaving through the front door. The woman said she was too embarrassed to tell the homeowners, but then decided to come forward because they have a young daughter, police said. Detectives traced the suspect to a San Diego marketing company that confirmed a salesman named Jeremy Karabela, 23, was an independent contractor with the business and had been working in Pleasanton on Oct. 2. Karabela, who has lived in Charlotte, N.C.; Tampa, Fla., and San Diego, was charged Wednesday with molestation and burglary. He is wanted on a $150,000 warrant. Investigators then traced the name to Charlotte, N.C., where Karabela's parents live, police said. Pleasanton police Detective Tiffany Wooley said Thursday that she called a cellphone number Karabela's father turned over, making contact with someone who said he was Karabela. Wooley said the man acknowledged being in the area, but refused to give any additional information and declined to meet with police. The man on the phone said he was in San Diego. A call to the cellphone number Thursday afternoon did not go through. Karabela's parents could not be reached for comment. Karabela, who has lived in Charlotte; Tampa, Fla., and San Diego, was charged Wednesday with molestation and burglary. He is wanted on a $150,000 warrant.