Man Held After 6 Women Are Attacked Near Coast

Laguna Beach police arrested a man Thursday suspected of sexually assaulting half a dozen women in three Orange County coastal communities earlier in the day, authorities said.

The suspect, who was not immediately identified, apparently attacked and fondled women at their homes and on the streets in Sunset Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, where he was finally arrested and booked on suspicion of sexual assault, Laguna Beach Police Lt. Darin Lenyi said.

The first incident happened at 1:40 a.m. in Sunset Beach, where an intruder attacked a 46-year-old woman at her residence, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Paddock said.

The woman was standing in her kitchen when the suspect grabbed her and tried to pull her to the floor, Paddock said, but the woman’s boyfriend, who was at the home, heard screams and fought off the man, who fled.

Police described that suspect as white, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds and 30 to 35 years old.

A similar description was given later in two attacks in Newport Beach, officials said.

At 3:15 a.m., a woman sleeping on the couch at her home on 14th Street awoke when she heard a knock on the door, Thomas said. Apparently, she thought it was her boyfriend and opened the door to find a stranger asking for a cup of sugar, some milk and flour. The man then tried to push his way into her home, but she was able to slam the door on him, Thomas said. The suspect was not seen again.

About five minutes later, a man approached a woman in an alley near West Ocean Front, Thomas said.

The man asked her for the time and then wrestled her to the ground and tried to assault her, Thomas said, but she managed to escape and contact police.

Thursday afternoon in Laguna Beach, police received reports of three incidents in which a man approached female joggers to ask for the time, then fondled them and fled, Lenyi said.

“After several reports, one of our officers spotted him and a short foot pursuit ensued,” he said.