2 Men Sought Over Rapes, Robberies in West Valley Parks

Los Angeles police are looking for two men believed to have raped at least three women during a recent series of robberies in west San Fernando Valley parks, investigators said Wednesday.

Police cautioned women to stay out of the parks in the area after dark and speculated that there could be other assaults that have gone unreported.

The latest incident occurred early Wednesday morning in Chase Park in West Hills, when a young couple was approached by a lone man who drew a gun, robbed them and raped the woman, police said. On Friday, two women were robbed by two men at Chatsworth Park North, but fended off sexual assaults by screaming and alarming their attackers.

Two weeks earlier, two teen-age girls were robbed and raped by two men at Shadow Ranch Park in West Hills. A few days before that a young couple was robbed at the same park.

Police believe the same gunman has been involved in all four incidents, aided by an accomplice in some of the crimes.

“There is a good chance there are others” in the string of crimes, said Detective Robert Peloquin of the Los Angeles Police Department. “Most rapes are not reported.”

Peloquin said the description of the men, the gun and other aspects of the incidents are so similar that investigators are confident that they are seeking the same individuals in each of the crimes.

“What they do is identical each time,” he said.

Peloquin said the primary suspect is Latino, 20 to 30 years old, speaks little English, has black crew-cut hair and brown eyes. He carries a large blue handgun and is estimated to weigh 150 pounds and stand 5 feet, 8 inches or shorter.

The second suspect is also a Latino of about the same age, with dark hair and a mustache. He is believed to be between 5-foot-9 and six feet tall, and weigh about 160 pounds.

In the first reported incident, two men approached a teen-age couple in Shadow Ranch Park on May 28 about 10 p.m. At gunpoint, they ordered the couple to undress and robbed them.

Two days later, shortly after midnight in the same park on Vanowen Street, a group of teen-agers were approached by two men with a pistol, who tied them with their own shoelaces and belts. Two girls, 17 and 15, were raped, police said.

On Friday the same two men were believed to have accosted two women at Chatsworth Park North about 9 p.m. The women, in their early 20s, were tied with their own belts and shoelaces and robbed. One of the women screamed for help when one of the men tried to rape her, and the men fled.

Detectives believe that one of the pair, the gunman, struck again Wednesday in Chase Park on Chase Street near Fallbrook Avenue. Detective William Berndt said a man with a gun approached a young couple in the park about 1:30 a.m., robbed them and raped the woman.

In each case, the robbers fled on foot.

Although the parks where the assaults took place are in areas with relatively low crime rates, police said women should avoid them after dark.

“My advice is to stay out of the park at night. And if you see someone who matches the descriptions of these people, contact the police immediately,” Peloquin said.

“I am not sure there is any park in Los Angeles that is safe at night.”