Police Link Suspect to 2 New Attacks

A serial rapist believed responsible for attacks on four women in the San Fernando Valley since last March struck again Tuesday night, robbing one victim and raping another in front of her 8-year-old son, police said.

A 30-year-old woman and her son had just left a church service and were in her car in a Topanga Canyon Boulevard parking lot when a man armed with a gun climbed into the back seat, said Lt. Sharyn Buck of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The gunman ordered the woman to drive to a nearby parking lot at 6912 Owensmouth Ave. and stop behind a building. The assailant raped the woman, robbed her, then fled on foot.

Moments earlier, at about 8:15 p.m., Buck said, the same man accosted a 53-year-old woman at the rear of an office building at 22030 Sherman Way. The woman was returning to her office to retrieve an item when the gunman stepped out of the bushes, demanded money and forced her into the building.

The woman told the man her money was in her car, and he followed her to the vehicle, where he took her money and fled to the Topanga Canyon Boulevard parking lot.

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Police said Wednesday the cases may be connected to similar armed attacks on four women in the Valley that began March 29 when a woman was robbed and sexually assaulted in a Woodland Hills parking garage in the 20800 block of Ventura Boulevard.

A second West Valley attack occurred May 27 at 9 p.m. when a woman was sexually assaulted in a parking lot at Canoga Avenue and Vanowen Street.

Two women, ages 21 and 22, were also attacked June 6 at 11:30 p.m. at Kester Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard in Van Nuys. The assailant forced the women into their car and made them drive to a secluded area where he sexually assaulted them, police said. He then forced them to drive him back to the location where he had picked them up.

In all cases, the attacker was described as about 25 years old, 5 feet 6, slightly built, wearing a cloth over his face and a knit cap or a ski mask.

The victims were sexually assaulted in their vehicles and robbed of wallets, credit cards, cash, jewelry and personal possessions before the assailant escaped on foot, Buck said.

All the victims were approached while in their cars parked in business or residential lots.

Police are asking witnesses or any victims of similar attacks to come forward with information.

“We have to get this guy off the street before he strikes again,” Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Jason Lee said. “He’s obviously armed and very dangerous.”

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represents the West Valley, said Wednesday she will ask the City Council to offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the rapist.

“He uses violence, threats and intimidation to commit these rapes,” she said. “I fear no woman is safe from this predator.”