Suspect Accused of Rape, Robbery

A Sylmar man was charged Monday with raping a West San Fernando Valley woman, trying to rape a Van Nuys woman and burglarizing a Studio City motel.

Clyde Brown, 19, was arraigned Monday in Van Nuys Municipal Court on charges of rape, burglary, robbery and attempted rape, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan M. Speer said.

Brown was already free on bail in two similar crimes. In four of the five incidents in which he is accused, Brown entered the unlocked apartments of women, Speer said. He raped two of them--one twice--and tried unsuccessfully to rape a third, she said. A fourth woman frightened him off but was robbed of her purse, Speer said.

Investigators were led to Brown after he was seen near a bank patronized by a rape victim whose automatic-teller card was stolen, Speer said. Brown is being held on $200,000 bail in County Jail pending a preliminary hearing Monday.