REGION : Police Probe Possible Link in 3 Sex Assaults

Police are investigating whether the rape of two women in their 60s and the sexual assault of a 52-year-old woman are connected.

The latest attack occurred Nov. 24 in Manhattan Beach when a 68-year-old woman was raped about 2:30 a.m. by a man who entered her home through an unlocked sliding door, said Manhattan Beach police spokeswoman Mary Laquet.

The man was described as a 25- to 30-year-old black man, about 6 feet tall with a muscular build, short hair and a medium complexion. He stole a small amount of cash and then fled from the home in the 1300 block of 17th Street, police said. Authorities say the man’s description is similar to that of suspects in two assaults committed recently in the harbor area.

A day earlier, a 66-year-old woman was raped in Harbor City after a man broke into her home in the 1600 block of 262nd Street and cut the cords on her telephone, said Los Angeles Police Detective Latricia Simmons.

On Oct. 6, a woman working at a San Pedro dry-cleaning firm was sexually assaulted after a man entered the business about 10:30 a.m., pointed a gun at the woman and ordered her to the back of the business. The man fled with $25, Simmons said.