Anaheim Man Held in Sexual Assault
A man suspected of kidnapping a woman at a bus stop in August and sexually assaulting her was arrested this week after an officer recognized him while investigating an unrelated crime, police said Friday.
Tracy James Smith, 39, of Anaheim is being held on $1-million bail at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping, assault and murder. Officials did not say why the murder charge was filed.
Smith was arrested Thursday night after an officer noticed his “stubbed fingers” while he was interviewing the man about an unrelated crime, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez.
“We had put out the suspect’s description but we didn’t really get any leads,” Martinez said. “The officer recalled the description of the suspect’s hand while he was taking a report.”
The man’s index, middle and ring fingers of his left hand were cut off at the middle knuckle area, police said.
On Aug. 2, a 32-year-old woman at a bus stop at Beach and La Mirada boulevards in Buena Park accepted a ride from a man, Martinez said. The woman asked to be driven to Westminster but the man took her to a remote area in Brea Canyon, where he raped her with a foreign object, Martinez said.
The woman fought her attacker and ran. A passerby called police. Smith will be arraigned Monday in Fullerton.
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