Police arrest suspect in a string of violent sexual assaults in Santa Monica, West L.A.
Police in Santa Monica have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of carrying out a string of violent sexual assaults on the Westside.
Pablo Carlos Pineda was taken into custody Tuesday evening in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, following a criminal probe by federal and local authorities, according to Santa Monica police Lt. Saul Rodriguez.
Investigators have tied Pineda to sexual assaults on Jan. 13 and Feb. 5 near the Santa Monica beach as well as a July 2 sexual assault in the 1300 block of Westgate Avenue in Sawtellle, Rodriguez said.
In the Jan. 13 incident, a woman reported that she was walking near the waterline about 6:15 p.m. when a man passed her, turned around, grabbed her and slammed her to the ground, according to a news release earlier this year.
“The suspect held the victim down while he physically and sexually assaulted her,” police said at the time.
Pineda also allegedly attacked a person on April 15 along Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Rodriguez said.
He has been booked on a count of forcible rape, assault with intent to commit rape and assault. He remains behind bars on $385,000 bail.
For more news in California, follow @MattHjourno.
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