Placentia : Suspect Held in Threat to Rape Corona Girl, 12
A 20-year-old Placentia man who police say threatened to rape a 12-year-old girl in her Corona home was being held at Riverside General Hospital on Tuesday for psychiatric evaluation.
Michael Franklin Lasher was arrested on suspicion of assault with intent to commit rape, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and committing a lewd act on a child under 14 years of age, Corona Police Sgt. Ray Cota said.
Corona police said the girl, who was home alone, was attacked by a scissors-wielding intruder who threatened to rape her. But the man fled through a back door when the girl told him she heard her older brother coming home.
The brother called police, who sent eight officers to search the neighborhood.
About half an hour later, police said, after a 15-minute foot chase through residential streets and backyards, detectives arrested Lasher. He reportedly stabbed at his own wrists and neck with scissors while in the hold of a police dog.
En route to the hospital’s jail ward, Lasher told police he wished he had been shot by officers, Cota said, so he was held for psychiatric evaluation.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
