Van Nuys Woman Fatally Stabs Man Trying to Rape Her

A woman fought with a man attempting to rape her for 25 minutes Tuesday before stabbing him to death with a 5-inch kitchen knife, police said.

The incident was reported about 3:30 a.m. at a Van Nuys apartment complex in the 7300 block of Ventura Canyon Avenue, said Detective Daniel Riehl of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Division.

The 22-year-old attacker, who was not immediately identified, entered the woman’s ground-floor apartment through an unlocked, sliding glass door, Riehl said. Armed with a knife, the man went into the woman’s bedroom and attempted to rape her, he said.

Stabbed in Chest

During the ensuing fight, the man put the knife down on the bed, Riehl said. The woman grabbed the knife and stabbed the assailant once in the chest before fleeing outside naked, he said.

She ran to a neighbor’s apartment and began banging on the door, screaming for help, Riehl said.

The assailant staggered from the apartment and collapsed in an outside walkway near the apartment manager’s office, police said. He was taken to Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Panorama City, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, Riehl said.

The 25-year-old woman, who lives alone, was taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys where she was treated for minor cuts and bruises before being released, authorities said.

Riehl said the dead man’s knife was later found in the apartment.

Police are checking to see if the assailant, who was described as 6 feet, 2 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes and a dark complexion, is a suspect in any similar crimes in the Los Angeles area, Riehl said.