Police officials are saying there's no immediate threat to public safety following news that a report of a rape was investigated by Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies March 6 in the 16600 block of Topping Way, in unincorporated Los Gatos.
Sgt. spokesman Kerry Harris said his department had been in communication with the sheriff's office about the incident and "the people in the neighborhood need not be concerned.
"It's not clear from the initial investigation that the event took place there in the neighborhood or that it happened around the time of the report," he said.
Santa Clara County Sheriff's Sgt. spokesman Jose Cardoza said he would be looking into the report to provide more information to the media.
Update: 11 p.m., March 12: The victim in the reported incident is a minor and because of confidentiality laws and Patch's privacy policy regarding victims of sexual crimes, will not be named.
Also, certain information about the crime will not be released to protect the victim's identity.
"At this time however, there is no threat to public safety," Cardoza said. "Our sexual assault investigators are working on the case and will conduct a thorough investigation on behalf of the victim and all parties involved."
Harris said Cardoza would also be giving the local police department whatever information he could release, particularly if there is an on-going public safety issue in the case.
Los Gatos Patch reader Kathleen Hoshimi, who lives on Vista Del Monte, said she was worried about the incident because it's close to her neighborhood. She said some of her neighbors walk along Topping Way at least five days a week with their dogs.
She also said she was just starting to allow her 11-year-old son to bike a few blocks from their home to his friend's house on Topping Way and Englewood Avenue.
"This is very worrying," she said.
Hoshimi said other neighbors report there's a lot of construction going on at the end of Topping Way with at least six or seven trucks parked there with numerous workers at all times of the day.
News of the rape spread among those who live near the scene of the crime or where the report was generated from since neighbors in the Blossom Manor neighborhood in east Los Gatos posted it on their Blossom Manor Yahoo group after learning about it by going to www.crimereports.com website.
