LAGUNA HILLS : Police Seek Man in Parking Lot Rape

Authorities on Wednesday were seeking a man who reportedly raped a 35-year-old Mission Viejo woman in her van at a local shopping mall.

The victim apparently left the van’s rear door unlocked after parking in the east lot at Laguna Hills Mall on Tuesday afternoon, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

The woman returned to the van shortly after 2 p.m., Olson said. As she began backing the van out of the parking space, a man appeared behind her seat and pointed a gun at her head.

He then got in the passenger seat and told her to drive to another area of the lot, Olson said. There, he told her to get in the back, where he bound her hands behind her back and raped her.

After the assault, the man used a switchblade knife to cut the victim’s hands free. He ordered her to drive back toward the mall, then got out and disappeared into the shopping complex, Olson said.

The man was described as a tanned Caucasian in his mid-40s, 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a stocky build and short, neatly groomed black and gray hair. He wore a blue shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.

Sheriff’s deputies said there appears to be no connection between this attack and a recent series of rapes in San Clemente.

Anyone with information should call (714) 647-7000.