Woman, 79, Is Raped, Robbed by Intruder

A 79-year-old woman was raped in her home by an intruder who broke in through a kitchen door and stole about $30 from her purse, police said Tuesday.

The victim, who lived alone in an apartment on Royal Palm Drive, was watching television in her living room around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when the intruder broke in and then struck her several times in the head with his fist, Police Sgt. Ron Smith said.

The woman suffered a bloody nose in the attack as well as several bruises, Smith said. She was treated at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and released.

“Physically, she’s doing OK, but, of course, she was very emotionally shook up at the time,” Smith said. As with all rape cases, counselors are helping in the recovery, he added.

Police have few leads. On Tuesday, they put out an artist’s sketch of the suspect.

He is described as a white male, 30 to 40 years old, about 6 feet tall with a muscular build. He has dark brown hair, pulled back in a 6-inch ponytail, and was wearing a green T-shirt at the time of the attack.

Police say sexual assaults against the elderly have been rare in Orange County. A suspect in one of the most notorious cases of abuse against elderly victims, Danny Harris, is now facing retrial in Orange County Superior Court on charges that he sexually assaulted about 20 women, many of them elderly, from 1985 to 1988.

But in this weekend’s assault, Smith said investigators have no suspects from past cases who match the description of the assailant, nor have they had similar crimes against elderly victims or others in that particular area that have provided any clues.

The assailant said little during the attack and apparently took nothing from the home other than cash from the woman’s purse, Smith said. “He didn’t ransack the place or go through the rest of the house,” he said.

The victim apparently never lost consciousness during the ordeal, Smith said.

The assailant left her in the living room as he fled the apartment, but she waited for some time before calling 911 “just out of fear that he hadn’t left,” the sergeant added.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Costa Mesa police at (714) 754-5205.