Rapist Who Preys on Sleeping Women Is Sought

A “hot-prowl rapist” who slips into first-floor apartments and duplexes of sleeping, single women is suspected of three rapes and one attempted rape in the East San Fernando Valley since May, police said.

The latest incident occurred at 3 a.m. Monday in Studio City, when a 24-year-old woman was raped by a man who climbed into her apartment on the 12900 block of Moorpark Street through an open bathroom window, Los Angeles Police Detective Lou Berman said.

“I think this person is walking the streets, walking the alleys, peeping, prowling, coming back later, turning the power off and entering the dwelling,” Berman said.

The first incident attributed to the prowler, an attempted rape, was reported in Toluca Lake on May 27, Berman said. Also in that community, the same day, a 26-year-old woman awoke and noticed a man standing in the hall, he said. The man fled when the woman screamed, and she was not harmed, Berman said.

Two rapes were reported--one June 9 in North Hollywood and one June 26 in Studio City, he said.

In each case, the suspect has preyed on a single woman who is asleep. Each time he has turned off the power to the residence and has entered through a window, Berman said.