Transient Arrested in Beating, Rape

A 34-year-old transient who is suspected of beating and raping an 84-year-old Port Hueneme woman several weeks ago was arrested Friday morning, police said.

John Paul Duggan has been wanted on a $500,000 arrest warrant on suspicion of rape and attempted murder since the Oct. 24 attack. He was arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department in the Venice area about 11:15 a.m., said Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Dennis Fitzgerald.

Duggan was in an alley on Lincoln Boulevard when officers recognized him from flyers that Port Hueneme police had distributed, Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said police concentrated their search in the Venice area because a car Duggan allegedly stole was found abandoned there the day after the attack.

“He gave them a false name and everything, but the officers recognized him and took him to the Pacific Station where they called us, and ran his prints, and verified that this was the man we were looking for,” Fitzgerald said.

Duggan was being held at Port Hueneme Police Station on Friday night and would later be transferred to Ventura County Jail, Fitzgerald said. Duggan will probably be arraigned Monday, he said.

During the attack, the victim suffered a concussion, severe facial cuts and serious damage to her left earlobe, which had to be repaired by plastic surgery.

Port Hueneme Detective Kenneth Dobbe, a seven-year veteran of the Police Department, said it was one of the worst crimes he had ever seen.

The victim is recovering at her daughter’s home in Ventura, Fitzgerald said. “Physically, she’s doing well, but mentally, it took its toll.”

The suspect met the victim’s 30-year-old grandson in October, police said. He apparently was invited to temporarily stay at the house where the victim had lived for about 40 years. The victim and her grandson were sleeping in separate bedrooms and Duggan was allowed to sleep on a living room couch.

At about 5:45 a.m. Oct. 24, the grandson awoke to the yipping of his puppy, police said. He heard a commotion and found his grandmother being assaulted in her bedroom, police said.

A fight between Duggan and the grandson began, police said, with Duggan attempting to throw the grandson through the bedroom window. The two then rolled into the living room, where Duggan broke free and crashed head-first through a window and ran naked into the darkness.

A short time later, police believe that Duggan broke into a nearby residence and stole car keys and a checkbook. Police also believe that while a couple slept nearby, he shaved off his mustache. Duggan then drove away in the couple’s car, Dobbe said.