Possible Link Is Probed in Rapes

Authorities are investigating whether a 34-year-old Altadena man being held Friday on $1-million bail for the alleged rape of a woman in La Crescenta is responsible for three similar sexual assaults in Pasadena.

Clifton Hutchins is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in the Oct. 16 rape of a 61-year-old woman, police said. The assailant wore a ski mask and broke into the home late at night through a side window, said Sgt. Bruce Fox of the Glendale Police Department. Part of the La Crescenta area is within Glendale city limits.

Detectives said that forensic tests related to the La Crescenta rape are pending and that they will be compared with evidence gathered in the Pasadena cases.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” said Pasadena Police Cmdr. Mary Schander. “[The] Pasadena and Glendale police departments are cooperating.”

The latest of the Pasadena rapes occurred Nov. 3. As in the La Crescenta attack, the assailant in the Pasadena rapes entered the victims’ homes through open or easily accessible doors and windows late at night, police said.

Hutchins was arrested Wednesday while police were investigating a Sept. 30 prowling and attempted burglary in the 3800 block of Cedarbend Drive in La Crescenta, a few blocks from the site of the Oct. 16 rape. A small amount of cocaine was found in his possession, police said. He was freed after posting $500,000 bail.

Detectives later linked Hutchins to the Oct. 16 rape on El Caminito, near Lowell Avenue, Fox said. “Evidence was found at the scene in both cases that tied Hutchins to the crimes,” he said.

Hutchins was arrested again Thursday at his federal probation officer’s office in West Covina. Hutchins is on probation for a federal drug offense.

Fox said Hutchins matched the descriptions given by eyewitnesses in the two La Crescenta incidents. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he also fits the description given by the women assaulted in Pasadena, he said. Detectives there have described the rapist as 6 feet, 200 pounds and thin or muscular.

The first Pasadena attack occurred about 1:30 a.m. June 27 in the 2900 block of East Del Mar Boulevard, near South El Nido Avenue. The second Pasadena attack occurred between 10 and 11 p.m. Aug. 15 near North Sierra Madre Villa Avenue and Rida Street, said Pasadena Police Lt. Rick Aversano.

The Nov. 3 assault occurred between 10 and 11 p.m. in the 3000 block of San Pasqual Street, he said. In one case, police said, the man entered through an unlocked door, and in another he cut a screen and opened a locked door.