PASADENA — Police arrested a 26-year-old transient late Saturday on suspicion of attempting to rape a young woman last week as she walked along a Pasadena sidewalk.
The suspect, a transient whose name was withheld Sunday as detectives continued investigating the case, was arrested without a struggle and booked on suspicion of attempted rape after a police sergeant spotted him about 10:30 p.m. at Colorado Boulevard and Hill Street, Pasadena police Lt. Jason Clawson said.
The alleged attack took place about 9 p.m. Sept. 29 as a Pasadena woman in her 20s was walking along the sidewalk of Hudson Avenue at Del Mar Boulevard, the lieutenant said.
“The suspect passed her,” he said. “As he passed her he grabbed her and forced her into the shadows. He attempted to remove his clothing but was unsuccessful.”
Clawson said the attacker abandoned the crime and fled when startled by a passer-by.
Officers searched the area with the aid of police dogs but the suspect was not found, he said.
But a break in the case came Saturday afternoon when Pasadena City College police officials contacted Pasadena police after recognizing the suspect from a sketch being circulated among law enforcement agencies, Clawson said. It was not clear Sunday if the suspect was, or had been, a student at PCC.
Once detained by police Saturday night, the alleged attacker was arrested once the victim identified him as the man who assaulted her last week.