Suspect Arrested in Attacks on Women

An 18-year-old Thousand Oaks man was being held in Ventura County Jail on $100,000 bail Monday, a day after his arrest on suspicion of attempting to rob a woman and robbing and attempting to sexually assault two women last month at The Oaks mall.

Juan Diego Carrillo was arrested about 7:15 p.m. Sunday by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies, who provide law enforcement for Thousand Oaks.

Carrillo is suspected of attacking a 45-year-old Thousand Oaks woman at knifepoint Sunday evening as she was leaving Lucky’s supermarket at 740 N. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank O’Hanlon. She fell backward into her car, kicked the suspect away from her and slammed the car door while the suspect fled on foot, O’Hanlon said.

Onlookers at the store called the police, who quickly responded and began searching the area. They chased the suspect over a fence into the parking lot of 850 Warwick Ave. where Carrillo was arrested, O’Hanlon said.

A kitchen knife was found on an embankment near Moorpark Road.

Carrillo is suspected of robbing and attempting to sexually assault a 39-year-old Thousand Oaks woman on Jan. 16 and a 22-year-old Thousand Oaks woman on Jan. 26, O’Hanlon said. Both attacks, in which the suspect used a knife, took place at the north end of the parking lot between Bullocks and May Co. in The Oaks mall. After the women escaped the sexual assault, the suspect fled on foot.

Since the second attack, mall security guards have been escorting women to their cars at night and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies distributed fliers with a composite drawing to mall stores and to nearby residential complexes. Ventura County sheriff’s deputies and members of Volunteers in Policing also staked out The Oaks mall parking lots.