LA HABRA : Transient Accused of Attempted Rape

Police have arrested a transient in connection with the attempted rape of a 19-year-old La Habra woman who was attacked as she walked past a motel on Sunday evening.

Richard Welker, 21, who was living at the Sunset Inn on South Beach Boulevard, was accused of assaulting the unidentified woman with intent to rape her, La Habra police spokeswoman Cindy Knapp said.

Welker was being held at Orange County Jail on $50,000 bail, Knapp said Monday.

At 7:10 p.m. Sunday, the woman and her boyfriend got off an RTD bus near the motel and parted, Knapp said. As the woman walked alone in front of the Sunset Inn, a man later identified as Welker asked her if she had seen his dog, Knapp said.

The woman ignored the man and kept walking. The assailant then grabbed her, pinned her arms to her side and pulled her into the empty motel lobby and then into a sleeping room, where he ordered her to undress, according to police reports.

The woman refused and the assailant began biting, scratching and striking her, police said. The woman screamed for help, alerting a man in an adjoining room and the motel manager.

When help arrived, the suspect had fled out a bathroom window.

Police who responded to the call found Welker hiding in a clump of bushes near the motel. The woman and witnesses identified Welker as the attacker, Knapp said.