Man Held After Rape Attempt, Is Suspected in 2 Other Sex Assaults

After following a trail of blood, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect in the rapes and attempted murders of two Thousand Oaks women and the assault of a third, authorities said Saturday.

Jose Zavala, a 21-year-old Thousand Oaks resident, was arrested as he hid under a car shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday after allegedly assaulting a 44-year-old woman in her bedroom, police said.

Police said Zavala is an illegal immigrant who has been deported twice to Mexico for criminal activity. Police did not know how Zavala--whose record reportedly includes a 1994 conviction for sexual battery--had reentered the United States.

“There’s nothing that strikes fear into a community more than when you’ve got a predator out on the loose,” said Chief Deputy Bob Brooks of the East County Police Services Division. “This is an obviously dangerous individual.”

Brooks said a man entered a Sunset Drive residence through the back door about 5 a.m. Saturday and tried to rape and strangle one of the occupants.

When the two other residents of the house came to the victim’s aid, the assailant dove head-first through a closed window and fled on foot.

Deputies established a four-block perimeter around the crime scene and brought in a canine and helicopter to aid in their search. The canine, Blitz, followed a trail of blood that led from the window to where Zavala was hiding under a car a few blocks away.

He has been identified by two of the victims as their assailant, police said.

Zavala was treated for numerous cuts at Columbia Los Robles Hospital before being booked at Ventura County Jail.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on at least four charges, including attempted murder, rape, assault with intent to commit rape and burglary, authorities said.

They have asked that bail be set at $1 million and said that other charges are likely.

In addition to Saturday’s attack, authorities suspect that Zavala was involved in two similar assaults in the same area during the last month.

About 10:15 p.m. Jan. 25, authorities responded to the rape of a 64-year-old woman living in the Thunderbird Oaks mobile home park.

In that attack, authorities said, the assailant forced his way into the residence, raped the woman and then tried to strangle her. A week later, the woman’s home was burglarized. After a search of Zavala’s home Saturday, investigators recovered a cassette player belonging to the woman, police said.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Feb. 20, authorities said, a man fitting Zavala’s description raped and tried to strangle a 57-year-old woman living in the Camelot condominium complex on Pleasant Way in Thousand Oaks.

Sgt. Frank O’Hanlon, who has handled the investigation since the beginning, said the suspect broke through a sliding glass door. The woman confronted her intruder in the living room but was overpowered and subsequently raped and choked.

Authorities said Zavala has a long criminal record that includes sex crimes.

In addition to the 1994 sexual battery conviction, Zavala was arrested in connection with a kidnapping last year. The disposition of that arrest was not available Saturday.

Saturday’s arrest capped one of the largest investigations ever by Thousand Oaks law enforcement authorities.

Once they knew how dangerous the intruder was, Brooks said, they threw all their resources at it.

The Sheriff’s Department organized a 67-member task force, drawing from several crime-fighting units, to hunt down the assailant.

When a sketch of the rapist was released last week, Deputy Gus Macias of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department thought he recognized the suspect as Zavala.

In response, a surveillance team was stationed to monitor Zavala’s last known residence on Sunset Drive. But officers never saw Zavala enter or leave the home and learned after his arrest that he had moved to Crescent Way.

Saturday’s arrest left fearful residents somewhat relieved.

“Fabulous,” said Donna Schubert, a resident of the same complex as the Feb. 20 victim, when told of the arrest. “It’s been on my mind constantly, and everyone here has been really concerned.”

After the rapes, Schubert said, she bought locks for all her windows and even thought of locking the door to her bedroom.

“I decided not to do that because I don’t want to be a prisoner in my own home,” she said.

Schubert added that while she is relieved that a suspect has been arrested, she is still nervous.

“The whole thing has definitely changed my life,” she said. “Last summer I slept with my windows open, but now I don’t think I’ll ever do that again.”