Authorities Arrest Teen-Age Suspect in Rape of Girl, 11

Police arrested a 17-year-old male Tuesday on suspicion of raping an 11-year-old girl in front of her teen-age sister in a dark North Hills alley.

The victim, her 2-year-old brother and their sisters, ages 17 and 5, were on their way home about 10:15 p.m. Monday after eating dinner at a restaurant when a gunman accosted them on Roscoe Boulevard near Noble Avenue, said Detective Craig Rhudy of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Division.

The assailant, described as a tall black man wearing a Los Angeles Raiders jacket, ordered the children into a nearby unlighted alley south of the apartment houses in the 15100 block of Roscoe Boulevard, Rhudy said.

The man then forced the 11-year-old and the 17-year-old behind a blue dumpster, where he raped the younger girl at gunpoint, said Lt. Harvie Eubank.

“We don’t know for certain why he chose the 11-year-old,” Rhudy said. “It’s not a pattern, at least not in Van Nuys.”

The younger children were asleep in a shopping cart the older girls had been pushing and apparently remained asleep throughout the incident, Eubank said.

The arrested youth was held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall on suspicion of kidnaping for the purpose of rape, Rhudy said. A gun believed to have been used in the attack was also recovered, he said.

There were no witnesses, Eubank said, despite the fact that 12 apartment balconies overlook the alley.

“Things are in real sad shape when you can’t even walk down the street without being forced into an alley and raped,” he said.

Neighbors said they have frequently seen suspicious-looking men hanging around the alley.

“Actually, I expected something like this,” said resident Fanny Vela, 19. “I’m afraid to even take the trash out at night back there.”

“There’s constantly something going on back there,” said Thelma Taylor, whose apartment overlooks the alley. “When I first moved here six years ago, there was nothing like this. Now it’s just a war zone.”

Police could not confirm Tuesday whether the alley has been a trouble spot. But Eubank said detectives plan to interview the children’s parents to determine why they let the youngsters out unescorted in a high-crime area.