Rape-Kidnapings Fit Pattern : Man Arrested in Sex Assaults on 13 Women

A 25-year-old North Hollywood man has been arrested in connection with 12 rape-kidnapings in the San Fernando Valley and one in West Los Angeles, Los Angeles police announced Wednesday.

David Keith Lewis, the father of two children, including a 1-week-old infant, is accused of committing the attacks between June 3, 1984, and Jan. 28 of this year. Ten of the assaults occurred in January alone.

County sheriff’s officials said, however, that Lewis was in jail on an unrelated violation at the time of one of the rapes.

The rape victims were well-dressed, attractive women between the ages of 17 and 30, according to Lt. Don Foster, who headed the investigation. Foster said the victims generally were kidnaped from market and department store parking lots, but that one of them was a sales clerk abducted from a North Hollywood shoe store where she was working alone.

Assaults Fit Pattern

Foster said most of the incidents fit a pattern: The rapist approached his victims, often while their arms were filled with packages, and displayed a knife or gun. Threatening to kill the women, he forced them to drive to one of several secluded locations where he raped them or forced oral copulation. He then stole his victims’ money, jewelry and bank cards.

On three occasions, the rapist forced his victims to drive to a bank and withdraw money, Foster said. All but one of the attacks occurred in the daytime, he said.

Lewis, who police said works part time as a gardener, was taken into custody without resistance Monday night at his North Hollywood apartment. He is being held in the Parker Center Jail on suspicion of rape. Because Lewis was on parole on a conviction for grand theft of guns, he is not eligible for release on bail, Foster said.

Lewis was traced after an automatic bank teller machine videotaped him as he allegedly attempted to use a bank card stolen from one of the victims, Foster said. On Monday, Lewis’ parole officer, Edward Shaw, who was visiting the Foothill Division station on unrelated business, identified Lewis after being shown a copy of a photograph, Foster said.

Foster said 10 of the victims have picked Lewis’ photograph from a series of photos, and several victims identified a distinctive tattoo on Lewis’ body. A search of Lewis’ home turned up clothing and jewelry matching the description of that worn by the rapist, the officer said.

Foster said police plan to ask the district attorney’s office to file felony charges of kidnaping, rape, robbery and oral copulation against Lewis. Police are also investigating whether Lewis may be responsible for other attacks, Foster said.

But Lewis’ 26-year-old wife said Wednesday that her husband could not have committed the rapes alleged by police because he was in jail on a parole violation from July to October 1984.

One of the rape-kidnapings occurred in late September, police said. The other attacks occurred in June, December and January.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Lewis was in the Compton jail from July 14 to Oct. 3, 1984. The spokesman did not know the offense for which Lewis was jailed.

“They’re using him as a scapegoat because he’s got a jacket (criminal record) already,” the suspect’s wife said. She refused to give her name but said she was released from the hospital a week ago after giving birth to the couple’s second child.

Foster said he has not yet confirmed the dates of Lewis’ incarceration, but admitted that at least one of the rapes may have occurred while Lewis was in jail.

“That’s one we’re going to have to resolve,” the officer said. “The victim may have made (identified) the wrong guy or he may have been out during that time.”

Williamson Sinczewski, 27, who described himself as a longtime friend of Lewis, said the rapes were out of character for Lewis. “I mean, yeah, the dude’s been in prison and he’s done a lot of bad things, stupid things, but he’s got a lot of responsibilities now. He’s been working and he’s been with his family,” Sinczewski said.

Foster said Lewis has a history of arrests in connection with robberies and burglaries dating to the age of 16, but no record of sexual offenses.

In addition to the June and September assaults, police said, women were reported kidnaped from the following places on the following dates: Dec. 7, 13309 Victory Blvd. in Van Nuys; Jan. 2, Saticoy Street and Louise Avenue in Reseda; Jan. 6, Sunland and Glenoaks boulevards in Sun Valley; Jan. 7, 6551 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood; Jan. 10, 9055 Sunland Blvd. in Sun Valley; Jan. 19, Hazeltine Avenue and Burbank Boulevard in Van Nuys; and Jan. 25, 6657 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood.

Police said that two attacks also were reported on each of two different days. On Jan. 16, women were kidnaped from Ventura Boulevard at Coldwater Canyon Avenue in Studio City, and from Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Kittridge Avenue in North Hollywood. On Jan. 28, one woman was kidnaped from Vanowen Street and Kester Avenue in Van Nuys, and another from Vanowen Street and Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys.

Lewis is scheduled for arraignment at 10 a.m. today in the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building.