Westside : $15,000 Reward Set in Serial Rapist Case

Santa Monica police are asking for the public’s help in capturing a serial rapist who struck again last weekend, raping his fifth victim in four months.

An elderly woman and her husband were accosted by the armed man early Sunday morning as they were going out to their car in the southeast section of Santa Monica, said Sgt. Gary Gallinot. The husband was ordered into the trunk of the car, the woman was raped and the couple was robbed, he said.

At a news conference Tuesday, police announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the rapist, described as a muscular, cleanshaven African American between 25 and 35 years old. Police, who have been working with the FBI on the investigation, have set up a 24-hour hotline for calls: (310) 458-8449.

The first assault took place Oct. 1, 1995, followed by attacks on Oct. 4, Oct. 8 and Nov. 11. In all the cases, the victims have been abducted, assaulted and robbed early in the morning. Four of the attacks, including Sunday’s, occurred in the Sunset Park area of the city.

Gallinot said police have “committed every available officer” to the search for the rapist, deploying plainclothes officers and overtime personnel to the streets.

However, an October victim of the rapist strongly criticized the police investigation. The 40-year-old woman stood up at the news conference and said she felt police were doing too little to find the man. She maintained that she had been “mistreated, ignored and dismissed” by insensitive officers after her six-hour ordeal.

Although she had been encouraging police to offer a reward for months, she said, officers had not wanted to publicize the fact a rapist was preying on women in Santa Monica. “I’m just sorry another woman had to suffer,” she said.