Police Seek Suspect in Rape, Attempted Sexual Assaults

Police are still hunting for a man who is believed responsible for a rape and four attempted sexual assaults--the most recent attack occurring early Saturday morning in the Sequoia Avenue area.

Simi Valley Police Lt. Neal Rein said a man driving a late-model station wagon was seen driving away from the home about 3:30 a.m., after he had awakened a sleeping 15-year-old girl and tried to drag her from her house.

But the girl’s screaming alerted her family, probably scaring the suspect away, Rein said.

No one was injured.

Extensive land and air searches turned up nothing Saturday.

The man entered the Sequoia house through an unlocked door, which is how he made his entries in two other incidents.

“We are encouraging people very strongly to lock their doors at night,” Rein said. “This is a safe city. However, people should not relax their normal precautions. It’s a pretty basic thing, but people often get complacent.”

Saturday’s attack fits the profile of three other attempted assaults and one rape that have been documented since September 1996, according to police.

In all the cases, the suspect woke up the victim between 2 and 4 a.m.

The 15-year-old girl has been the youngest victim, police said. The other women ranged from 18 to 23 years old.

Before Saturday, the last attack occurred in June, when a man took off a window screen on a house north of the Ronald Reagan Freeway between Erringer Road and Sycamore Drive, where several people were sleeping.

Armed with a knife, the man tried to attack an 18-year-old woman but fled on foot when the other residents heard him and woke up.

When detectives began noticing a pattern in these crimes three months ago, they helped develop a profile of the suspect with the California Department of Justice and the FBI.

He is believed to be a loner in his late 20s who is probably single and most likely has not had successful relationships with women his own age. He may have a criminal record, including peeping, obscene phone calls, burglary, trespassing or indecent exposure. He is a threat not only to strangers but to people he knows, officials said. If he works, he probably does not have much public contact.

Authorities also suspect that he may be following his own crimes in media accounts.

The 15-year-old girl and her family told police that the attacker appeared to be a teenager or a young adult with a light to medium complexion. They said he was about 5 feet, 9 inches tall and was wearing a plaid shirt and stone-washed blue jeans.

Anyone with information should call the police at 583-6950.