Wife Raped, Husband Beaten in Carjacking

Police are looking for two men who carjacked a young Covina couple in Sherman Oaks, raped the wife repeatedly and beat the husband.

The 2 1/2-hour ordeal ended early Tuesday morning, police said.

The victims, a couple in their early 20s, were sitting in their black Ford pickup at about 10 p.m. Monday when two men walked up and pointed a semiautomatic handgun at them.

“This [crime] was particularly vicious and these suspects acted in an inhuman manner,” said Lt. Anthony Alba, LAPD spokesman. “They preyed upon an innocent couple who went along with their crime to survive.”

At the time of the attack, the couple were parked behind the Ventura, a private banquet hall in the 13900 block of Ventura Boulevard near Stern Avenue, according to police.

On Monday evening the banquet hall was hosting “a Boy Scouts’ event full of little kids, and it was over with by 9 o’clock,” said Julie Otey, an employee of the banquet hall.

Otey said the area where the couple parked was a valet-only lot not open to the public. “They would’ve had no business being there,” she said.

The couple told police the men--who appeared to be in their 20s--climbed into the pickup’s large passenger cab and ordered the husband to drive away, Alba said.

At one point, the husband was ordered to pull over and get into the truck’s flatbed, where one assailant held a gun to his head as the other raped the wife in the truck’s cab, police said.

The carjackers then switched places and continued assaulting the wife. They also hit the husband’s face repeatedly with their fists, bruising and cutting him.

The couple said the men also forced them to drive to an automatic teller machine near the corner of Cedros Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, where they tried to get the husband to withdraw money but were unsuccessful because there was no money in the account, Alba said.

Around 12:30 a.m., the victims were ordered to drive to Matilija Avenue and Valleyheart Drive near Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, where a third man--who also appeared to be in his 20s--was waiting in a red two-door compact car, police said. The two assailants got into that car and all three sped off.

Both victims were taken to a nearby hospital Tuesday morning and released a few hours later, police said.

“Their physical injuries were minimal compared to the psychological scars they will bear for some time,” Alba said.

The police would not release additional information about the victims except that they were robbed of money, jewelry and a wallet.

“We’re desperately seeking information on the suspects,” Alba said. He said anyone with tips or leads should call the Van Nuys Division at (818) 756-8747.