Man Held in Sexual Attacks on 3 Women : Crime: Suspect is arrested after victims reported assaults near Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

A Costa Mesa man was arrested on suspicion of sexually attacking three women Thursday near Orange Coast College, police said.

Police said the three women, who reported the attacks within 20 minutes of each other, identified Matthew Paul Krieger, 21, as the suspect.

Krieger was arrested in the area and booked into the Costa Mesa Jail on suspicion of attempted rape. He was held on $50,000 bail, according to police Investigator George Wilson.

About 3:20 p.m., the first victim, a 21-year-old Orange Coast College student, told police a man approached her from behind while she was walking on Merrimac Way near the campus, grabbed her, tried to fondle her and made lewd remarks, Wilson said.

The woman screamed and broke free from the assailant, who fled.

About 20 minutes later, a 27-year-old Costa Mesa woman reported that she was grabbed while walking with a 40-year-old Tustin woman in the 300 block of Hanover Drive, about two miles from the site of the first attack.

The younger woman screamed and got away from the attacker, who then accosted the older woman, knocked her to the ground and fondled her, Wilson said.

The assailant fled when the two women’s screams attracted residents.

Police found Krieger a short distance from the scene of the second attack. All the victims identified Krieger as the attacker, Wilson said.

Investigators said that Krieger may have been involved in similar attacks, and asked anyone with information to contact Detective Frank Rudisill at (714) 754-5363.