Suspect in ‘Ski Mask Rapist’ Attacks Is Arrested

A city sewer worker who police say prowled neighborhood streets at night was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of being the elusive “Ski Mask Rapist” who has attacked more than 30 women over three years.

George Anthony Sanchez, 26, was taken into custody on his way to work after investigators who had been following him for a month saw him try to break into the home of a woman in nearby Redwood City two nights earlier, police said.

“We are convinced with the evidence at hand that he is clearly the Ski Mask Rapist,” Deputy Police Chief Ike Hernandez said.

Hernandez said investigators have linked at least 33 attacks on girls and women ranging in age from 16 to their 70s.

Police on Wednesday displayed black panty hose that had been fashioned into a mask with eye slits, black gloves and a black pellet gun resembling a .45-caliber automatic--all items that they said had been found at Sanchez’s home.

Jewelry Found

Jewelry and personal items belonging to several of the rape victims also were found at Sanchez’s home, Hernandez said.

He will be charged with robbery and at least nine counts of sexual assault, according to Detective Joe Reyes, who said the number of assault charges “could minimally double.”

Sanchez is married with two small children.

Just before Thanksgiving, police began to watch Sanchez at night and discovered he often prowled through residential and business areas between 6 and 10 p.m.

On Monday, investigators said they saw him try--and fail--to enter the home of the woman in Redwood City.

Sanchez was not arrested at that point, Hernandez said, because the “evidence wasn’t quite there.”

The next day, police met with the district attorney and got authorization to search Sanchez’s home, where the additional evidence was found, investigators said.