A jury convicted an East Liberty man yesterday of the brazen robbery last summer of five college roommates and the rape and robbery of a resident's girlfriend.
Tito Rivera, 22, clenched his jaw as he heard the lengthy verdict. He was guilty of rape, burglary, indecent assault, six robberies, six counts of terroristic threats and two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The jury acquitted him of simple assault.
"The evidence in this case ... is overwhelming that Tito Rivera terrorized and brutalized the victims in this house," Deputy District Attorney Janet Necessary told jurors before they deliberated.
Witnesses testified this week that Mr. Rivera approached two roommates who were standing outside their house on Zulema Street in Oakland in the early morning hours of Aug. 25 and asked to borrow a cell phone. After Mr. Rivera completed his call, Michael Zalac and Andrew Herlihy turned to walk inside, at which point, they said, the defendant forced them inside at gunpoint.
He told the men and two other male roommates watching a movie in the living room to lie face down and give him all of their money. Mr. Rivera would net about $312 from six victims that night.
The men testified that he ordered them to line up with their hands on their heads and climb the stairs, so he could retrieve cash from two of the victims who said their wallets were in their rooms. He repeatedly threatened their lives. On the trip downstairs, he asked if anybody else was home. They said two others were sleeping. He said to wake them up.
Mr. Rivera robbed the fifth roommate and his girlfriend, and eventually packed an X-Box console and several Steelers jerseys he planned to take.
With all the men lying face down on the bedroom floor, he forced the 20-year-old woman into an adjoining bathroom, where he raped her and forced her to engage in other sex acts, they said.
Later, he lined the victims up again and was planning to drive one of their cars to an ATM to have them withdraw $500 each. Mr. Zalac noticed the intruder had put the gun in a pocket and jumped him. The five roommates subdued Mr. Rivera and tied him up with shoelaces and electrical wire.
After police arrived, the defendant confessed to the robbery but denied the sexual assault. DNA evidence, however, confirmed the assault.
Sentencing is Sept. 9 before Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel.
First Published: May 30, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
