Transient Convicted in Rapes of 2 Women

A transient was convicted Thursday of 19 felony counts stemming from attacks on two women who were raped on consecutive nights.

After just two hours of deliberations, Scott Daniel Artamenko, 24, was found guilty by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury. Some members of the jury embraced the two victims after the verdicts were read.

Judge Darlene Schempp will sentence Artamenko in four weeks. “Appropriately, his sentencing is on Friday the 13th,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven J. Ipsen.

Because sentences for sexual assault charges can run consecutively, Artamenko faces a maximum sentence of more than 140 years in state prison. “I don’t expect him to serve 140 years, just as many as he can,” Ipsen said.

During a weeklong trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Artamenko was arrested July 1, moments after repeatedly raping a 30-year-old woman at a Colfax Avenue apartment. Police had been summoned by the first victim when she heard screams coming from her neighbor’s apartment the night after she was attacked.

Police took Artamenko into custody after a brief struggle. Once he was handcuffed, the 44-year-old woman who was raped first identified Artamenko as her attacker.

After arresting Artamenko, investigators found a pair of jeans outside the second victim’s apartment that they believed belonged to Artamenko. Inside one pocket was a set of keys stolen from the first victim.

Although warned of the possibility of guilty verdicts, Artamenko “was just in a state of shock,” said his attorney, Patricia A. Andreoni-Alcazar.

Artamenko was convicted of charges including forcible rape, sodomy and oral copulation.