A San Jose police officer who was arrested for masturbating in front of a family while responding to a domestic disturbance call last month was the subject of a sexual assault investigation last year and has been accused by another woman of molesting her during a DUI arrest.
Matthew Dominguez, 32, was arrested last week and charged with a misdemeanor indecent exposure in connection with an April 21 incident during which he and two other officers were responding to a restraining order call about a mentally ill family member who was being violent.
After arriving at the home, Dominguez dispatched his colleagues to locate the subject, at which point he allegedly "touched himself" in front of two women, a mother and her 23-year-old daughter. According to authorities, the mother saw "Officer Dominguez unzip his pants, place his hand inside his zipper and began rubbing his crotch."
The 23-year-old's father is also said to have witnessed "Dominguez facing out of the kitchen with his erect penis in his left hand and his right hand on the counter" after he was alerted to the cop's actions by his daughter. Dominguez was walked out by San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata and he placed on administrative leave in the wake of the incident.
Dominguez Previously Accused of Touching Woman's Breasts at Party
After Dominguez, a four-year veteran of the San Jose police force, was arrested, a Bay Area woman came forward publicly about her claim that Dominguez sexually harassed and assaulted her at a Memorial Day party in the backyard of the home of another San Jose police officer, as reported by The Mercury News. Her allegation was investigated, but no charges were ever filed in the case.
The woman, identified as 25-year-old Jennifer Rodrigues, said during the May 2021 party, Dominguez allegedly touched her breasts and thigh and kept trying to touch her even after she rebuffed his advances. Rodrigues said she and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Andrew Pouliot, reported the alleged sexual assault last June to San Jose's Office of the Independent Police Auditor, which in turn alerted the SJPD Internal Affairs Unit.
In her initial June 2021 complaint filed with the police auditor, Rodrigues said she and Pouliot were talking with friends around 10 p.m. as the party was starting to wind down, when a visibly intoxicated Dominguez sat next to Rodrigues and allegedly started to touch her hair and her breasts. She added that when she tried to move away, he started touching her thigh and tried to "play footsie" with her.
"First he went on my boobs and it was just the upper part and I thought he was just touching my hair, but he kept doing it and after I leaned to the right, he goes for my thigh," Rodrigues said in an interview. Rodrigues said she then attempted to get Pouliot's attention and got him to come over by texting him about was happening.
Pouliot said he then told his friend, the owner of the home who is also an SJPD officer, and two other friends about Dominguez's advances towards Rodrigues and the second officer said Dominguez made similar advances towards his own girlfriend "cornering her in the kitchen," according to the complaint.
Pouliot said he decided against confronting Dominguez because of Dominguez's intoxication level and the presence of other police officers at the party. Later that night, Pouliot said Dominguez allegedly made "inappropriate remarks" about Rodrigues' breasts and started "heavily leaning" on her, according to the complaint.
Rodrigues said she later detailed her account to Campbell police detectives and told them she wanted to press charges. Campbell police Capt. Ian White told this news organization that an investigation was conducted and that the findings were sent to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, but that prosecutors declined to file any criminal charges based on the case as presented. San Jose police said in a statement that an administrative investigation into Dominguez's conduct at the party is ongoing.
Dominguez Allegedly Groped Another Woman Breasts During a DUI Arrest, Claimed Bodycam Had 'Died'
Another woman came forward with similar allegations after Dominguez grabbed headlines last week. As reported by NBC Bay Area, a woman who chose not to be identified, told the outlet on Thursday that Dominguez inappropriately touched her during a DUI arrest in December.
"He very blatantly groped my left breast," she said about Dominguez, who she claims was the arresting officer. "I remember telling his partner that officer Dominguez had just groped me and that he tried to pass it off as 'trying to help me with my seatbelt.'"
The woman's attorney, Zachary Reitman, said the officer later told them that the body camera footage was missing. "And this was not on camera. Officer Dominguez wrote in his report that the battery in his camera had died," Reitman said.
"It's not a coincidence. How calculated. How criminal. How disgusting. He knew what he was doing," the alleged victim told NBC. The woman told NBC Bay Area that she didn't pursue it at the time because she said that she didn't think anyone would take her word over a police officer. However, that changed when her attorney recognized Dominguez from stories of his arrest.
Reitman has now filed motions to get Dominguez's entire personnel file and to force him to testify. "An officer's credibility is extremely important and if there are other incidents of any kind of misconduct, any kind of veracity issues with officer Dominguez. That's paramount to impeaching his credibility at trial," he said. The DUI case will be heard on June 10. Dominguez is scheduled to be in court on June 22.
