A Tulare County jury on Thursday found a Visalia man guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2020, prosecutors said on Monday.

Elijah Silva, 24, was convicted of four felony counts, with special allegations that he inflicted great bodily harm, that the victim was vulnerable, and that his conduct was violent, according to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office.

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The case stemmed from a high-speed police chase on Dec. 24, 2020, when California Highway Patrol officers attempted to stop Silva for speeding.

Officers said Silva was driving 78 mph in a 55-mph zone and later accelerated to 125 mph before crashing into a pole near Avenue 384. Silva, another male passenger, and a female survived the crash.

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On the way to the hospital, the woman told medical personnel she believed she had been sexually assaulted, and a forensic exam was conducted.

Prosecutors said Silva had been drinking with the woman, whom he had just met, and had given her shots before she fell asleep in her car. She only regained consciousness after the crash.

In early 2022, the California Department of Justice confirmed that DNA swabs from the forensic exam strongly supported the presence of Silva’s DNA.

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Before the DNA results, Silva pleaded guilty in 2021 to evading police, DUI causing injury, and driving without a license.

He was sentenced to a year in jail and three years’ probation. While on probation in 2023, he was charged with misdemeanor battery on a significant other and vandalism.

Silva faces up to 16 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 18. He remains in custody.

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