MISSION VIEJO : Woman Raped by Apartment Intruder

A 29-year-old Mission Viejo woman was raped in her apartment Thursday by a man claiming to be a police detective, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported.

As the woman became suspicious of the man and was closing the door, he pulled a silver-colored semiautomatic pistol from his waistband and forced his way into the apartment, said sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Richard Olson. The intruder blindfolded and bound the woman, carried her to the bedroom and raped her.

The victim managed to struggle free after the 6-foot-1, middle-age rapist left the Marguerite Parkway apartment, and she called the Sheriff’s Department shortly before noon, Olson said.

The officer said the woman became suspicious of the man at her door when he offered a driver’s license partly concealed by his thumb as proof that he was a detective. He told the woman that he was investigating a robbery in the building.

Olson said officers are hoping anyone who might have seen the man will call detectives with information that might lead to his arrest. The rapist was described as being about average weight with short, dark brown hair. He wore blue jeans and a jacket.

Olson warned people to make sure that anyone identifying himself as a law enforcement officer presents a badge and picture identification card.