Man Accused of Raping 4 Prostitutes
An unemployed accountant was arrested for allegedly raping four Hollywood prostitutes in a secluded area north of Canyon Country, sheriff’s deputies said.
Rabih Alkharsa, 33, of Hollywood was booked on suspicion of rape, oral copulation, sodomy, kidnaping, robbery and false imprisonment for five separate assaults. One victim, a hitchhiker, escaped before she was sexually assaulted.
Sgt. James Rupsa said that Alkharsa was arrested Friday night after deputies spotted his car on Briggs Road near the Agua Dulce Canyon Road exit of California 14. A 17-year-old prostitute told deputies that Alkharsa had threatened her with a knife and raped her.
Sheriff’s deputies began staking out the area a week ago after the fourth attack. At 10 p.m. Friday, Deputies Bob Bullard and Jerry Harper spotted Alkharsa’s car, a copper-colored Honda that matched the description of the car used in the previous attacks. Alkharsa was wearing a black wig at the time of his arrest.
Rupsa said that the women were abandoned in the area where the assaults allegedly took place. Alkharsa is being held on $50,000 bail pending arraignment.
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