Woman Fights Off Attacker; Man Held

A 31-year-old Lancaster man was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape Monday after he entered a woman’s apartment in a ski mask and gloves and threatened her with a 10-inch knife, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

Paul Meyer, 31, was being held at the Antelope Valley sheriff’s station in lieu of $40,000 bail, Lt. David Collin said.

Deputies said a man in a ski mask and gloves entered an unlocked apartment in the 1200 block of Meadow Circle in Lancaster when the woman who lived there went out to the laundry room. When she returned, the man ordered her to undress and threatened her with the knife, Collin said.

The woman managed to fight off her assailant, but was cut on her hands. She was treated at the scene.

Deputies arrested Meyer near the complex about an hour later.