Woman Foils Rape Attempt, Suspect Flees

Police were searching Friday for an intruder who pulled a 23-year-old woman out of her bathtub and attempted to rape her. The man fled after the woman broke free and pointed a gun at him.

The woman was attacked in her apartment at 9:45 p.m. Monday when a man entered through an unlocked front door, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.

“He removed her from the bathtub and took her to the bedroom where he attempted to rape her,” Wilkerson said.

The woman managed to break free and retrieved a handgun hidden inside her bedroom closet. When she brandished the gun and threatened to shoot, the intruder fled through the front door, he said.

“It was fortunate that she had a presence of mind that the gun was there, and how to use it appropriately,” Wilkerson said.

The victim, who did not know the assailant, told investigators that the man said he had been watching her in the area near Lake Forest Drive and Pittsford Drive.

Investigators described the assailant as a Latino in his late 20s to early 30s, about 5 feet 7, with brown hair and eyes. He was cleanshaven and wearing a pierced earring and had a black-and-white tattoo on his upper left arm, Wilkerson said. He was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans with holes in them and tennis shoes.

Anyone with more information about the case was asked to call Investigator Cindy Edes at (714) 647-7479 or the watch commander at (714) 834-6490.