Prowler Who Frightened 2 Girls Sought

Authorities are looking for a man who broke into the bedrooms of two girls in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday at separate homes near the Buck Gully ravine.

A 13-year-old in the 4500 block of Cortland Drive awoke at 2:50 a.m. Tuesday to see a stranger leaning over her, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said. She screamed and the intruder escaped through an unlocked door he had used to enter.

The victim described the intruder as an Anglo male, from 40 to 50 years old, thin, wearing a gray ski cap and green sweater, and having beard stubble, authorities said.

An hour later, a similarly described man fled through the bedroom window of a 7-year-old in the 3900 block of Park Green Drive after she yelled for help.

The girls were not touched and no one was injured, Gonis said. The girls’ names were not released because of their ages.

Both homes are about one-quarter mile away from the area where a man was reported last year to have broken into the bedrooms of three girls, ages 7 to 9, whose families live on Sandcastle Drive. That intruder fondled the girls--Harbor View Elementary School pupils in Corona del Mar--and also stole food.

A transient was arrested in October on suspicion of being the intruder but no charges were filed against him because the young victims failed to identify him as the man in their bedrooms, Gonis said.

Nothing was reported taken during Tuesday’s intrusions.

“We are urging residents to lock doors and windows, especially when the weather is warmer as it is now, because in these two situations that’s exactly how he entered,” Gonis said.

Police do not have a suspect. Officials have increased patrols in the area and are using a helicopter to do periodic searches.

Tuesday’s intruder might be the same man who reportedly fondled the other three girls last year, Gonis said.

“It’s possible all five incidents are connected because of the similar circumstances,” he said.