Rape Suspect Is Spotted on TV Show

Santa Barbara police arrested a rape suspect after his alleged victim spotted him on the television show “Blind Date,” authorities said Thursday.

Ulrick Kevin White, 31, of Santa Barbara was arrested on suspicion of raping and kidnapping a 35-year-old woman 14 months ago in Ventura County, police said. He is being held at the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

By chance, the woman saw her alleged assailant on the dating show last week, recorded it on her VCR and turned the tape over to Ventura police. Authorities contacted Santa Barbara police, who made the arrest.

“The chances against seeing someone like that on TV are pretty astronomical,” said Ventura Police Det. Russ Robinson, chief investigator in the case.

He described the woman as both stunned and exhilarated by the unexpected lead in the case.

The woman told police that she was doing household chores and listening to the television when the show “Blind Date” came on and she heard a distinctive voice and accent. She raced over to the TV to see the man who allegedly kidnapped and assaulted her as she was leaving a Ventura bar in September 2003.

Robinson said the woman was waiting for a cab outside a Ventura bar when a man she had met briefly there offered her a ride to her home. After she accepted, he allegedly detoured to a secluded area and raped her.

When she realized “something very bad was going to happen,” the woman reached into her purse and dialed 911 on her cellphone, Robinson said. A California Highway Patrol dispatcher recorded the sexual assault.

After obtaining the “Blind Date” tape, police tracked White on Sunday to a temporary address in Santa Barbara. A woman there gave officers his cellphone number.

Posing as a potential employer, a detective called White and asked to meet with him about a security guard job. White was arrested without incident when he drove to the arranged meeting place.

White, who told police he is a security guard and handyman, also is awaiting trial on suspicion of breaking into the Santa Barbara home of a 22-year-old college student after allegedly following her home in November 2003. Police arrested White the same night from the victim’s description.

“We’ll try to connect the two cases, no doubt about it,” said Santa Barbara Police Lt. Paul McCaffrey.