LAPD looking for man suspected in series of attacks on prostitutes in South L.A.
Authorities are looking for a man they think has attacked at least a dozen women working as prostitutes, picking them up in South Los Angeles and then assaulting them at gunpoint.
Investigators have linked 11 cases — from both the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department — they think are related either because of DNA or the suspect’s behavior, Los Angeles Police Capt. Billy Hayes told reporters Friday at the department’s downtown headquarters.
The first attack occurred in January 2014, Hayes said. The latest happened Friday morning.
The youngest victim, he added, was 15.
The man has typically approached women working as prostitutes along Western Avenue in South L.A. or Alameda Street in Los Angeles County, Hayes said.
After talking to the women and getting them into his vehicle, Hayes said, the man drove them at gunpoint to a remote area near South L.A. and forced them “to commit the acts that he chooses against their will.”
The suspect threatened to hurt the women if they did not cooperate, Hayes said. In one case, he said, the man struck a woman who tried to refuse.
The man then let his victims go, Hayes said.
Authorities worry there may be more victims, Hayes said, and are working with outreach organizations to warn other women working as prostitutes in the area.
“We are concerned about the safety of the young ladies,” he said.
Investigators have a limited description of their suspect, Hayes said: a bald, black man with a salt-and-pepper goatee or beard. Victims have described him as being between 5 feet 8 and 6 feet 1 and weighing between 180 and 220 pounds, he added. The suspect is thought to be between the ages of 30 and 50.
He has driven either an older black pickup or an older white four-door sedan, Hayes said.
The case broke in May, Hayes said, when detectives began investigating an assault that began in South L.A. DNA from that attack matched evidence collected in the January 2014 assault, he said. As detectives looked at those cases and others, he said, a pattern emerged.
Authorities ask anyone with information about the cases to call detectives at (213) 486-6910 or anonymously at (800) 222-8477.
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