Man Sexually Assaults, Beats 72-Year-Old Woman

In the third attack in three weeks, a 72-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and beaten by a man who posed as a beauty salon operator, police said Tuesday.

The woman, who suffered broken bones, cuts and bruises, scratched and punched the man during the struggle that began about 5:15 p.m. Monday in her three-bedroom house in the 300 block of North Cordova Street, Burbank Police Det. Matthew Miranda said.

The assailant, described as a heavyset white man, 5-foot-7 with short dirty blond hair, fled in an old station wagon, police said.

“She’s a tiger. She’s my hero,” Miranda said. She suffered a broken right shoulder, fractured facial bones, two black eyes and multiple lacerations and bruises in the attack. She was expected to remain hospitalized at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Miranda said.

In a similar attack July 2 in Studio City, a man forced his way into a 28-year-old woman’s residence and struggled with her during a sexual assault that ended when her roommate intervened, Los Angeles Police Det. Steve Bishop said.

The assailant was described as 5-foot-9 and 270 pounds, unshaven and with brown hair.

In the first of the three attacks--on June 17--a 36-year-old Burbank woman fought off a man who sexually assaulted her in a residential parking garage, Miranda said. The woman suffered a concussion during the attack, which began when the man grabbed her from behind and ended when she triggered her car alarm, the detective said.

In Monday’s incident, a man in jeans and a T-shirt presented the elderly woman a beauty salon business card at her door, soliciting her business, then returned moments later and forced his way into the house, Miranda said.

Attacking her from behind, the man hit her numerous times during a violent struggle that continued throughout the house before he gave up and fled, the detective said. A neighbor came to her aid and another saw him speed away in the light-colored station wagon.

The assailant passed out business cards for a legitimate beauty salon in Burbank. After investigation, police said he may have picked up the cards at the salon.

Of the woman’s resistance, Miranda added, “It’s really tough to tell what’s the best thing to do, to fight or to give in. . . . Sometimes after aggressive fighting, the suspect gives up and leaves . . . [but] there’s no way to tell if that’s going to happen.”