ORANGE : Suspect in Break-In Tied to Rape at Site

Prosectors say a man shot during an attempted burglary in November is the intruder who raped a woman in the same duplex a month earlier and vowed to return.

LaMar McClinton, 44, of Whittier has been charged with attempted burglary, burglary and rape and will appear at a preliminary hearing Friday, police said Wednesday.

Police suspect that McClinton was shot as he tried to enter a duplex Nov. 11 in the 100 block of North Fir Street in Orange. They also allege McClinton raped a woman in the duplex in October.

“We’re alleging the same defendant came back approximately a month later,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jane Shade, who is prosecuting the case.

On Oct. 16, the suspect broke into the woman’s house through a bathroom window and raped her, police said. He told the woman, who was at home with her two daughters, that he would be back, police said. Almost a month later, the 25-year-old woman heard someone breaking into the kitchen and she awakened her 21-year-old boyfriend, who had since moved in, police said.

Her boyfriend fired two shots from a .25-caliber handgun through the kitchen window, hitting the suspect as he stood outside, according to police. The suspect fled.

Police learned that the suspect had been admitted to UCI Medical Center in Orange with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and right arm. After an investigation, police arrested McClinton on suspicion of attempted burglary. He was charged Nov. 14.

The district attorney filed the charges of rape and burglary Dec. 12.

At the preliminary hearing, to be held at Municipal Court in Santa Ana, a judge will determine whether to proceed with the case.

The woman’s boyfriend, whom police refused to identify, will not be charged in the shooting, Orange Police Detective Bob Taylor said.