Man Arrested in Series of Armed Sexual Assaults

A man has been arrested in connection with nine sexual assaults, five of which occurred in Koreatown, a police spokeswoman said Friday.

Quintman Patterson, 20, of Los Angeles was arrested around 10 p.m. Thursday while riding a bicycle near Wilshire Boulevard and Alexandria Avenue, said Officer Kristi Sandoval of the Los Angeles Police Department. Sandoval said police identified Patterson through a composite drawing based on victims’ descriptions, and a shoulder bag that resembled one described by some of the victims. She declined to describe the bag.

When officers approached, Patterson fled on foot and was cornered in the parking lot of a nearby motel, where he surrendered, Sandoval said. Police recovered a gun, said Sandoval, adding that victims had said their attacker hid a semiautomatic handgun in a shoulder bag.

In addition to the Koreatown assaults, four women were attacked near Glendale, Los Feliz and Beverly Hills. Sandoval said that eight of the nine victims were of Korean ancestry. A task force was created last October in Koreatown to investigate the assaults.

Sandoval said that DNA evidence has linked four of the assaults.

Patterson’s DNA is being tested and results are expected next week. Victims will be interviewed over the weekend.

The first attack occurred in Koreatown on Aug. 26, when an armed man forced his way into a woman’s apartment, took money and sexually assaulted her. In each crime, the man was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, authorities said.

The last attack occurred May 4, also in Koreatown.

Sandoval said the investigation will continue despite Patterson’s arrest. Patterson is being held in lieu of a $1.4-million bond.