Man Accused of Stalking, Trying to Kidnap Girls

A 34-year-old Inglewood man who faces two counts of attempted kidnapping and one count of stalking may have tried other attacks in the San Fernando Valley, Inglewood and the Crenshaw district, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

Dennis Hezekiah drove a white 1998 Pontiac van or a white 1989 Honda Civic while stalking or trying to assault girls and young women, police said.

They encouraged anyone who may have encountered him to come forward.

Police said Hezekiah, also known as Dennis Lee Hamilton, was an instructor at the Leimert Park Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts Academy, 3626 W. Slauson Ave. He was also taking a trade class at an unidentified school in the Valley, police said.

The detective in charge of the case said Hezekiah is married with two children.

“You’d never in a million years picture him doing something like this,” said LAPD Det. Jeffrey A. Sandefur. “He’s an average-looking guy, very soft-spoken and obviously educated.”

Police said Hezekiah’s bail is $1.2 million. He spent more than six years in prison on cocaine trafficking charges before being released on parole in 1997, they said.

Authorities said the stalking charge stems from activities that began March 15 in southwest Los Angeles. Police say a man stalked a 13-year-old girl walking home from school for three weeks.

The first two times he tried to talk to her, she ignored him. Then, when he grabbed her and tried to pull her into his car, she screamed, ran home and told her parents, police said, and the family filed a complaint April 11.

About a week later, Hezekiah allegedly tried to grab an 18-year-old woman waiting for a bus on 47th Street near Figueroa Street and pull her into his van. She got away.

The next day, April 18, Hezekiah was arrested in the Wilshire area after a police officer noticed him struggling with a girl.

Police said Hezekiah approached the 12-year-old while she was walking home from school on Venice Boulevard near Lafayette Road. He was trying to drag her into his car when Officer Miguel Lopez drove up, they said.

“From what I could see, she was fighting for her life,” Lopez said Tuesday. “She was very scared.” When the girl saw the police car, she yelled for help, broke free from Hezekiah’s grip and ran toward Lopez, the officer said. The suspect was arrested without incident.

“If there are additional victims out there, we want them to come forward,” said Capt. Kirk Albanese of the Wilshire Division.

The major assault crimes unit can be reached at (213) 847-3994 or (213) 485-2504.