Rapists Caught in the Act, Police Say : Crime: Woman was being assaulted in beach restroom after midnight when officer arrived in response to tip from a witness. Two suspects are held on $50,000 bail.

Alerted by a witness, police arrested two men early Thursday as they allegedly were raping a 35-year-old Irvine woman in a beach restroom, investigators said.

The suspects, who told police they were transients, were identified as Miguel Angel Lopez, 24, and Francisco Hernandez Ortega, 18. Both were booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of rape with bail set at $50,000.

Sgt. Lance Ishmael, the principal investigator, said the attack occurred shortly after midnight on Crescent Bay Beach in north Laguna, the same beach where last July another woman was raped at gunpoint after dark and her boyfriend was bound and robbed.

Ishmael said police have made no arrests in the earlier rape, which is still under investigation. He said the two crimes are unrelated.

Ishmael credited Thursday’s arrests to a witness who, after hearing the victim’s screams and seeing her being attacked, hurried to a public telephone and called police. He said the first officer on the scene, Frank Farley, saw one man raping the woman in the restroom as the other man held her down. Farley then drew his gun and arrested the attackers, Ishmael said.

Ishmael said that Lopez also is being charged with providing false information to authorities. Ishmael said a fingerprint search disclosed that Lopez originally gave police a false age and name.

The victim was taken to South Coast Medical Center in Laguna Beach. She was treated for facial scratches and bruises and assigned a rape counselor before she was released.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. told him that the victim had been drinking on the beach with the two men who later followed her into the restroom and attacked her.

Rick Barrett, president of the Crescent Bay Drive Homeowners Assn., said he was shocked to hear that a second rape had occurred on the cove beach abutting his neighborhood.

“It is outrageous that this is happening,” he said.

Barrett said after the July rape, his community had rejected the idea of placing a night curfew on the beach in the belief that such drastic action was unwarranted.

Barrett said he still opposes any curfew, contending that the rapes were “isolated incidents,” but he suggested that other measures could be taken, such as locking the restrooms at night and increasing police patrols.

Barrett said individuals should avoid “throwing caution to the wind” by walking the beach after dark. The danger, he said, is a rather recent phenomenon: “Ten years ago I would never have thought twice of going down to the beach any time of day or night,” he said.

Ishmael said police have no plans to step up beach patrols. But he also urged people to exercise prudence in nighttime. “Don’t be alone in those dark places at those hours of the night, especially if you are a woman and alone,” he said.