Man Held in Rape of Woman, 89, Attempted Attack on Another, 94

A former security guard was arrested after he allegedly broke into a nursing home in Lincoln Heights and raped one elderly woman patient and tried to rape another, authorities said Tuesday.

Ezequiel Diaz, 25, was taken into custody at his Lincoln Heights home about 90 minutes after the attacks occurred early Monday morning, Los Angeles Police Detective Ben Lovato said.

Hollenbeck Division officers went to the home after Diaz’s wallet was found in the room where the attacks took place, Lovato said.

“Apparently, he was frightened off and, during his escape, he dropped his wallet,” the detective said.

According to investigators, the attacker scaled a wall at the Keiro Nursing Home on North Mission Road and eventually entered the room the two women shared shortly after 3 a.m.

The intruder raped one of the women, age 89, and was in the process of undressing the other, age 94, when a noise outside the room apparently frightened him away.

“These two women were very feeble and frail and they weren’t able to fend off any attack,” Lovato said.

Shortly after the attacker escaped, nursing home employees discovered the two women and called authorities.

Nursing home officials declined to comment when contacted late Tuesday.

The rape victim suffered some scrapes and was treated at County-USC Medical Center, officials said. The other woman was not physically harmed.

The district attorney’s office Tuesday filed three charges against Diaz--one count of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of burglary, Lovato said.

Diaz, who was jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned today in Division 30 of Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Police said Diaz was not a former employee of the nursing home, but they declined to elaborate on his background as a security guard.