Local News in Brief : Rape Suspect Seized
Los Angeles police are seeking the extradition of an Oregon man who allegedly posed as a police officer and raped 16 women after telling them they were under arrest, Detective Ken Beno said Monday.
The suspect, Wayne Taira, 28, was living under an assumed name in Hillsboro, Ore., when arrested by Washington County, Ore., sheriff’s deputies on rape charges Sept. 12, Beno said. Police believe that Taira forced 16 women between the ages of 13 and 50 into his car at gunpoint in Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara counties between December, 1986, and May, 1987, Beno said.
“He suggested that he was law enforcement,” Beno said. “He suggested that they were under arrest.”
Once in the car, equipped with a police scanner, Taira would drive the women 20 to 30 miles to a secluded area and rape them, he said.
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.
