Sketch Leads to Suspect’s Arrest

A 34-year-old Palmdale man was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on suspicion of kidnaping and sexually assaulting a woman, authorities said Sunday. The arresting officers were reportedly alerted by a striking resemblance between the suspect and a composite drawing of the woman’s assailant.

Jeffery Gruetzmacher was being held at the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station in lieu of $30,000 bail, Sgt. Paul Kaser said.

The woman’s assailant reportedly abducted her at knifepoint on Wednesday from a grocery store parking lot at 20th Street West and Avenue J, Kaser said. The woman was forced to drive to a remote spot, where she was sexually assaulted, Kaser said.

It was the composite drawn from the woman’s description of her attacker that led to the arrest, Kaser said. Two sheriff’s deputies noticed the resemblance between the drawing and Gruetzmacher after they pulled him over for a routine traffic stop about 9 p.m. Saturday, Kaser said.

The victim later identified Gruetzmacher as her assailant, Kaser said.