Investigation of Rape Suspect Is Expanded

A Mussel Shoals man suspected of drugging and raping a 21-year-old Santa Barbara woman last weekend may also have raped at least one county resident, the Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

A woman called authorities after seeing news reports this week that 36-year-old Andrew Stuart Luster had allegedly slipped a date-rape drug into the drinks of a woman and man he met at a Santa Barbara bar, took them to his beach home and allegedly raped the woman twice while she was half-conscious, authorities said. They did not specify where in the residence the man was.

The Sheriff’s Department provided no details about the recent woman who called, but said they are expanding their investigation throughout the state and as far as Nevada based on telephone calls received since Luster’s arrest on Tuesday.

While searching the home of the man neighbors knew as “Drew,” investigators found photos and homemade videos of at least five women, said sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto. “The photos and videotapes are fairly explicit documenting sexual activity,” he said. “It appears the women are semiconscious or unconscious.”

Authorities said Luster, who is 6 foot 1 and weighs 220 pounds, is known to have frequented the Santa Barbara bars along State Street, as well as near UC Santa Barbara and the Isla Vista area, where many students live.

Constance Bryant, a rape crisis program manager with the Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, said the use of date-rape drugs has doubled in the county in the past year. One out of every five calls to the coalition’s hotline involves date-rape drugs, she said.

Anyone with information about Luster should call the Sheriff’s Department at 654-2340.