Local News in Brief : $1-Million Bail Set in Rape Case

Ajudge Thursday set bail at $1 million for a 25-year-old North Hollywood man charged with 67 felony counts stemming from an eight-month-long series of sexual attacks, kidnapings and robberies of 11 women in the San Fernando Valley.

David Keith Lewis pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Lewis, a part-time gardener, was arrested Monday night. The charges cover crimes committed between June 3, 1984, and Jan. 28 of this year, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Margaret Barreto-Morehouse.

She said the assailant approached the women, who ranged in age from 17 to 30, in Valley supermarket and department store parking lots. He then allegedly forced the victims to drive to secluded areas, where he would force them to engage in sexual acts before he would steal their jewelry, credit cards and money, the prosecutor said.

Lewis was traced by police after he was videotaped using a bank card allegedly stolen from one of the victims, police said.

Police said after Lewis was arrested that he was a suspect in 13 rape-kidnapings. But the formal charges accused him in 11 of the incidents.

He was charged with 27 counts of sexual abuse, 10 counts of kidnaping, 4 counts of kidnaping for purpose of robbery, 13 counts of robbery, 7 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 5 counts of grand theft and 1 count of joy riding.

Judge Ramona Godoy-Perez scheduled Lewis’ preliminary hearing Feb. 20.

Although a bail figure was set, Lewis is not eligible to be released from custody because he is on parole following a conviction for grand theft of firearms, Barreto-Morehouse said. He is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail.