Suspect in 2 Simi Assaults Is Linked to Serial Rapist

A knife-wielding assailant responsible for two assaults this week is believed to be a serial rapist who previously attacked nine victims over the last four years, police said Thursday.

The age of the victims, the description of the suspect and the fact that the attacks occurred in the victims’ homes are similar characteristics with the other unsolved cases, Sgt. Bob Gardner said.

The most recent attacks occurred about two miles apart in central Simi Valley, he said.

In the first assault this week, the knife-carrying assailant surprised a 23-year-old woman in her home about 11 p.m. Wednesday. The victim, who suffered minor injuries, fought off the attacker, who fled on foot.

The second attack occurred about 5:30 a.m. Thursday when the assailant forced a 22-year-old woman from her home at knifepoint, police said. He then took her to an undisclosed location, where he sexually assaulted her.

“It is believed that these two incidents are related to the series of rapes that have plagued the city,” according to a statement released by the Police Department.

The victims described their attacker as a white male between ages 17 and 25, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 with a medium build. During both attacks, the man wore a ski mask, police said. The descriptions varied only slightly between the victims.

Police are not saying how the man got into the women’s homes or what evidence was left behind.

“It is a very important case and we’re not going to jeopardize it by releasing the wrong thing,” Gardner said.

More than half a dozen detectives were assigned to the cases Thursday, Gardner said. Police have no hard evidence that the crimes are linked, but they hope to acquire DNA evidence to prove that there is a connection, Lt. Neal Rein said said.

In the previous assaults, police believe that the attacker may have stalked his victims. But Gardner was not certain whether that was the case in the most recent attacks.

Gardner declined to say what leads police are pursuing. He said authorities have ruled out any connection between attacks in the San Fernando Valley and those in Simi Valley.

“We have not come up with a link in any other police jurisdiction and we’ve looked as far away as Las Vegas,” he said.

Councilman Steve Sojka said the recent attacks have increased a sense of urgency among city officials to catch the rapist. Officials have put up a $15,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

“Every day that we don’t catch this guy is another day that we have to worry about him doing this,” he said. “It frustrates me not only as a city councilman, but as a husband, father and lifelong resident that some punk is doing this.

“Obviously, we want to catch this guy as soon as possible. And boy, we’ll throw the book at him.”

Police believe that the serial rapist first struck June 8, 1996, when he entered a home through an unlocked door in a neighborhood between Sycamore Drive and Sequoia Avenue. The intruder approached a young woman in the home, but was scared off after other residents were awakened.

The following is a chronology of the other attacks:

* Sept. 2, 1996, a man entered a home in the city’s west side about 2:15 a.m., and subdued and raped a 19-year-old woman.

* On Sept. 26, 1996, a man wrapped his hands around the neck of a 23-year-old woman in a home in the 1200 block of Royal Avenue about 1:45 a.m. After a short fight, the man fled. Police said the man entered the house through an unlocked door.

* On Jan. 12, 1997, a 21-year-old woman sleeping in her home in a neighborhood between Sycamore Drive and Tapo Canyon Road awoke after a man put his hands over her mouth. She resisted. The man fled.

* On June 14, 1997, an 18-year-old woman was attacked at knifepoint about 4 a.m. after a man removed a window screen and forced open the window of a home north of the Ronald Reagan Freeway between Erringer Road and Sycamore Drive. After the woman’s screams woke the home’s other residents, the man fled.

* On Oct. 25, 1997, a 15-year-old girl was assaulted in her home in a neighborhood between Sycamore Drive and Sequoia Avenue. Her assailant fled after family members heard a commotion in the girl’s room.

* On March 22, 1998, a 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted after a man with a large knife entered her house through an unlocked door while she and her family slept. The man then fled on foot.

* On May 4, 1999, a 25-year-old woman was taken from her home and driven to an open field west of Simi Valley, where she was sexually assaulted.

* On Oct. 31, 1999, a woman was forced into the passenger seat of her car after she pulled up in front of her house, then her attacker drove to an unidentified location where he sexually assaulted her.