SANTA ANA : Police Seek Ex-Con on Suspicion of Battery

Police are searching for a 67-year-old ex-convict who allegedly beat and attempted to rape a co-worker at a bridal shop, police said Wednesday.

Manuel Padee Singh was last seen leaving the business in the 300 block of North Broadway on Nov. 4 after the attack, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Bob Clark said.

Police allege that Singh grabbed a young woman by the hair in the back room of the shop about 6 p.m. and threw her to the floor.

“He punched her on the side of the face and beat her head onto the floor,” Clark said. “She lost consciousness for a few seconds.”

The woman struggled and begged the assailant to stop, at one point pushing him away with her legs and running to the front door, police said. But the door was locked and the assailant had the keys, Clark said.

“He grabbed her and pulled her back,” Clark said, adding that Singh allegedly told the victim, ‘If I’m going to jail, I’m going to make it worth my while; I’m going to rape you and kill you.’ ”

The victim began talking to the man, convincing him that if he let her go, she would not tell anyone about the attack. The man agreed, police said.

“He takes her outside through the back way,” Clark said. “Once they get outside, she went around the corner to a nearby business and called [police].”

Investigators identified the assailant as Singh, who has been convicted of rape twice before and has a criminal history dating to 1946. In 1983, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison on rape charges, according to the state Department of Corrections. Singh was paroled in 1993.

“He has a history of being very violent toward his rape victims,” Clark said.

Police described Singh as stocky, 5 feet 9 inches tall, of Indian and Latino descent and weighing 200 pounds. He has short gray hair and brown eyes, sometimes wears dark-frame glasses and drives a dark blue four-door 1983 Chevrolet Citation, license plate 2DEZ936.

Police are asking anyone with information about Singh to call (714) 647-5166.