Parolee Is Arrested as Suspect in Rape, Beating

A 45-year-old parolee was arrested Sunday morning in Whittier in connection with the rape of a Costa Mesa woman who was assaulted in December in the laundry room of her apartment complex, police said.

Jesse Allred, who was on parole for a burglary conviction, was jailed in Costa Mesa on suspicion of raping and beating the 19-year-old woman. He is being held on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Municipal Court in Newport Beach.

Police said Allred was apprehended by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies about 9 a.m. Sunday while he was hiding behind a bathroom door in a motel in Whittier. Costa Mesa police had received a tip about an hour earlier “from someone who knew Allred and placed him at the motel,” Lt. Ron Smith said.

Costa Mesa police asked Los Angeles authorities for assistance in arresting the suspect.

Police last month canvassed the Costa Mesa neighborhood where the assault occurred with a composite drawing and were able to identify Allred as a suspect.

A shirt found at an apartment he used in Costa Mesa contained bloodstains that matched the DNA of the victim, who was punched in the mouth and lost two teeth in the assault, Smith said.

“We have gotten more than 40 tips [in the past several weeks] saying, ‘I know Jesse, and three days ago he was here,’ ” Smith said.

Allred is also sought on two narcotics warrants by San Bernardino County authorities, Smith said.