North Hills Man Is Suspect in Salon Robberies

A 26-year-old North Hills man with an extensive criminal record is being sought in a series of robberies and rapes occurring in beauty salons in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said Friday.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed 35 felony counts against Walter Antonio Cortez on Friday. A felony arrest warrant has been issued with bail set at $4.5 million, said LAPD Lt. Anthony Alba.

“He is deemed to be extremely dangerous,” said Alba at a news conference at the LAPD’s Van Nuys station. “We want to put an end to his reign of terror in the Valley.”

Cortez robbed, and in at least five cases sexually assaulted employees and customers in 28 Valley salons between March 18 and Aug. 22, said LAPD Robbery-Homicide Det. Gina Rubalcava, who is leading the investigation. In one incident, a victim was shot and wounded.

Cortez entered the shops during daylight hours and posed as a customer, Rubalcava said. He allegedly brandished a handgun and demanded money and personal property.

In the rape cases, he led women into a back room and sexually assaulted them, Rubalcava said.

Investigators have tied Cortez to six of the 28 robberies, Rubalcava said. He remains a suspect in 22 cases, she said. Cortez has used several aliases, according to police, including Jose Anchta, Walter Omar, Walter Santana and Walter Sermeno.

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Police are investigating the possibility that a second suspect was involved, she said, because witness statements indicate some deviation in the robber’s mode of operation.

Cortez was identified after a witness gave police California license plate number 1GMN861 from a 1983 blue Toyota hatchback leaving the scene after an attack, Rubalcava said.

Police records showed that Cortez, 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, is on probation for assault with a deadly weapon and has an extensive criminal record for theft, burglary, spousal abuse, battery and stalking, she said.

Investigators showed his police photograph to several of the victims who identified him as their attacker, she said.

The series of robberies and rapes began in March, ceased until the end of June and resumed in mid July, she said. All but one of the robberies occurred in the Valley.

The latest incident took place Sunday when a man armed with a revolver walked into Hair Express in the 13000 block of Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys at 6:40 p.m. He took $1,000 and raped a woman, police said.

At least half of the robberies and at least three rapes have occurred at hair and nail salons in Van Nuys, police said. About six beauty shops have been robbed in North Hollywood with others occurring in Pacoima and Canoga Park.

Salon operators in the area of Victory and Van Nuys boulevards, where the latest attack took place, said Friday they are cautious, but have not taken any extraordinary precautions to protect themselves or their customers.

“We are mostly taking customers we know who have appointments,” said Carmen Escalante, manager of Celebrity Hair on Van Nuys Boulevard. “We are taking walk-ins, but not if they look suspicious.”

Still, other salon employees are relying on existing security.

“We have heard about the robberies,” said Angela Morales, a beautician at Alan’s Hair Design on Van Nuys Boulevard. “We have an alarm and heavy doors. And it is busy in the shop and on the street.”