9 Elderly Women Raped by Possible Serial Attacker : Crime: Police say man’s description and method of operation follow a pattern. The attacks occurred since May 1.

Los Angeles police said Friday that they are investigating the possibility a serial rapist is preying on elderly women in Hollywood and West Los Angeles.

Nine women were raped and robbed in their homes between May 1 and Sept. 26 by a man fitting the same general description and using the same ruse to get into their homes, said Los Angeles Police Cmdr. William Booth.

The victims’ ages range from the early 70s to 88 years old, Booth said. Most of them told police a clean-cut, well-spoken man came to their homes claiming he was looking for work or searching for someone. When the women opened their doors, the man forced his way in. He raped them and robbed them of money and other items, said Lt. Don Foster, head of the department’s rape section.

Seven of the nine victims lived in Hollywood, in an area bounded by Franklin Avenue, Beverly Boulevard, Hoover Street and Fairfax Avenue, Booth said.

On May 19 and June 2, two other elderly women were raped in West Los Angeles in an area bounded by San Vicente, Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards and Centinela Avenue, Booth added.

Reports of the rapes surfaced during a Times interview with Patricia Giggans, executive director of the nonprofit Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women. She said their rape hot line has of late “been getting more calls from older women.”

Booth said the department did not publicize the rapes because investigators are not sure it is the work of one man but said detectives hope to release a composite drawing of a suspect by next week.

The suspect in each case was described as a muscular, short-haired black man with a medium complexion, aged 30 to 35, 5-feet-10 and 170 pounds. He usually wore a white T-shirt or short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, Booth said.