$25,000 Offered in Search for Suspect in Sexual Attacks

The Los Angeles City Council offered a $25,000 reward Friday to help catch the man police believe is responsible for five recent attacks on women in the San Fernando Valley.

“It’s all about wanting to return the streets and areas of the city to safety and to places where women and their children can feel safe,” Councilwoman Laura Chick said.

Women have been sexually assaulted in four of the attacks, and in two of those cases children were present. The victims range in age from 21 to 47.

The most recent assault occurred Tuesday when an attacker forced a 30-year-old woman, who had just left church with her 8-year-old son, to drive from a Topanga Canyon Boulevard parking lot to a secluded location on Owensmouth Street, where he sexually assaulted her in front of the boy, police said.

Moments before, authorities said, the same man had robbed a 53-year-old woman in a parking lot behind a Sherman Way building.

The attacker is described as being about 25 years old, 5 feet 6, slightly built, wearing a cloth or ski mask over his face, and, in some cases, a knit cap.

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

“It’s my hope that this is at least one step we can take to bring an end to these heinous acts by bringing forward information that can lead to the arrest and conviction of this criminal we need to take off the streets,” Chick said.

Anyone with information about any of the attacks is asked to call the Rape Specialist Section of the Los Angeles Police Department at (213) 485-2921.