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Business Proprietor Arrested For Sexual Assault
JURA
Jura Aghassi was arrested on Monday, Oct. 20 for a sexual assault incident that occurred at the Jura's Pizza in September. STANISLAUS COUNTY BOOKING PHOTO

 

The proprietor of an Oakdale pizza restaurant that recently closed its doors was arrested on Monday, Oct. 20 for a sexual assault incident that occurred at the establishment in September.

Jura Aghassi, 59, of Turlock, was booked into Stanislaus County Jail by Oakdale Police investigators on Monday afternoon after a month-long investigation into allegations by an adult female employee of a forced sexual assault at Jura’s Pizza on North Yosemite Avenue.

Investigators said the incident was brought to their attention the day after the incident which allegedly took place in the evening hours of Sept. 14.

In the course of the investigation, Oakdale officers and detectives interviewed other individuals who worked at the establishment.

“We’ve interviewed the other employees, and as of yet we don’t have any other victims,” said Officer Aaron Beattie.

Aghassi was also interviewed and, according to police, denied that the incident even occurred.

On Sept. 25 police served a search warrant at Aghassi’s residence in Turlock.

Evidence, including a cell phone, from that search and the investigation was forwarded to the Ceres Police High Tech Crimes Unit for analysis.

Police declined to state what the evidence was until the matter goes to court.

A week after the investigation was initiated by police, Aghassi closed the business.

The business’s Facebook site has a post dated Sept. 22, 2014 which states, “Thank you to our loyal oakdale (sic) customers for supporting us the past few months. Unfortunately business was just too slow and we had to shut down. We will let everyone know if we will have another location opening but for now make sure to get your pizza and hot wing fix at Juras Pizza in Turlock.”

Aghassi is the namesake of Jura’s Pizza in Turlock that has been a family owned business since 1979 and that opened an Oakdale location in April this year.

On Oct. 20 police obtained a probable cause warrant for Aghassi’s arrest charging him with felony counts of forced oral copulation, sexual battery, and rape with a foreign object.

Officer Beattie said Aghassi was contacted at the Turlock restaurant at 1:50 p.m. where he surrendered to authorities. He was later booked into Stanislaus County Jail and is being held on $200,000 bail.