Recently in Rape Category
SOUTH PASADENA -- Police are continuing their search for a man who broke into a young woman's home and sexually assaulted her.
The 18-year-old victim awoke about 2:50 a.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of Monterey Road and found a man in her room, South Pasadena police officials said in a written statement. He sexually assaulted her.
Police launched an investigation and released a composite sketch of the attacker to the public in hopes someone would recognize the man.
"The police department is currently soliciting, processing and following up on leads generated from the initial preliminary investigation along with those received from the public," according the police statement.
"Information we have been able to develop during the course of the investigation suggests the suspect may have either resided in or frequented the 600 block of Monterey Road," the statement said.
Investigators are also awaiting the results of DNA analysis of evidence collected from the crime scene, officials said.
Patrols in the area where the assault took place have been beefed up, according to the police statement, "even though we do not have any specific information to suggest the suspect may return."
The attacker was described as a white man in his 40s, about 5-feet 11-inches tall, 190 pounds, with brown eyes, curly brown hair and facial hair. He wore a red hooded sweat shirt during the crime.
Police advised the public to keep in mind that the suspect may have altered his appearance, such as changing hair length or color, to avoid capture.
Anyone with information is asked to call South Pasadena police at 626-403-7270.
SUSPECT SKETCH courtesy of the South Pasadena Police Department
SANTA ANA -- A Baldwin Park man has been arrested on suspicion of a violent Orange County rape and kidnapping as officials investigate the possibility he's responsible for other similar attacks.
Jose Luis Capacete, 39, was arrested Jan. 20 on suspicion of rape and kidnapping with intent to commit rape in connection with an alleged vicious attack on a prostitute in Santa Ana on Christmas Eve of last year, Santa Ana police officials said in a written statement.
Capacete, who works as an armored car driver in Orange County, picked the woman up in a van along Harbor Boulevard, officials said.
"Once the victim was inside Capacete's vehicle, Capacete produced a handgun and a Taser," according to the police statement. "The victim's hands were tied behind her back and she was sexually assaulted in the van."
Evidence found at the scene ultimately led police to identify Capacete as a suspect in the kidnapping and rape, and authorities carried out a search warrant at his Baldwin Park home, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
"We collected evidence that belonged to six different females that have no relation to him," Bertagna said. "That's what leads us to believe there are other victims."
Capacete was arrested Jan. 20 and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to police and Orange County booking records.
Since his arrest, Santa Ana detectives have learned of other strikingly similar kidnappings and rapes and are investigating the possibility Capacete was also involved in those cases.
Another woman, also a prostitute, reported she was kidnapped and raped with the use of a handgun and Taser on Jan. 7 in Garden Grove, Bertagna said.
Additionally, detectives learned following Capacete's arrest that U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials investigating an unrelated case had interviewed another prostitute in August who told them she had been the victim of a similar attack in Santa Ana, the corporal said.
Federal officials did not notify Santa Ana police of the report until after Capacete's arrest.
"This woman that they're working with brought this incident to their attention and told them what happened, but the documentation never made it here, so we never had a case," Bertagna said.
"Unfortunately, that's one of those things that slipped through the cracks," he said.
The investigation into the DHS report and the Garden Grove case remained in their early stages, Bertagna said. The only case in which a charge has been filed is the Christmas Eve assault.
"(The other two) cases are ongoing and being looked into, as well as the six additional pieces of evidence (from Capacete's home)," Bertagna said.
All of the three possible victims identified so far were prostitutes, immigrants and in their 20s, officials said.
Police sought the public's help Thursday in connecting Capacete to any additional crimes.
Though Capacete lived in Baldwin Park, investigators had not linked him to any assaults in the San Gabriel Valley, police said.
The brutality and sophistication displayed in the alleged Dec. 24 assault indicates an experienced attacker," Bertagna said. "With this level of violence, our concern is, how long has he been doing this?"
Capacete appeared in court for arraignment Jan. 24, however it was continued and he did not enter a plea, Orange County District Attorney's officials said. He was scheduled to return to the Central Jail Court Feb. 9.
PHOTO of Jose Capacete courtesy of the Santa Ana Police Department
LA PUENTE -- Detectives in La Puente are investigating the second reported sexual assault this month, though the attacks are not related, authorities said Wednesday.
The most recent crime took place between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Saturday, though it was not reported until Tuesday, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Victor Sotelo said.
A 20-year-old woman was raped by an acquaintance at a home in the 200 block of Common Avenue, investigators said. The suspect was described only as a man in his early 30s, and no further details were released.
In an unrelated case, sheriff's officials Friday released a suspect sketch and asked the public's help in finding a man who raped a 14-year-old girl about 8 p.m. Jan. 2 near the dumpsters of an apartment complex in the 17000 block of Main Street.
The man was known to residence of the apartment complex only as "Michael," officials said.
He was described as a Latino or Guatemalan man between 18 and 22 years old. He stood about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 150-160 pounds, and wore his black hair in a distinctive "faux hawk" style.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's Industry Station.
MURRIETA -- A West Covina man faces multiple life terms in prison after being convicted this week of four rapes, including one in which his victim fought back by biting off a portion of his tongue.A Riverside County jury found Ronald Douglas McGowan Jr., 34, guilty of twelve felony charges connected with the sexual assaults of four women Tuesday, Riverside County District Attorney's spokesman John Hall said. Jurors Wednesday determined that McGowan will be sentenced as a third-strike offender when he returns to court Oct. 7.
McGowan was already a convicted sex offender for sex crime convictions in Sonoma County in 1995 when he attacked a Murrieta woman inside her apartment on June 5, 2009, investigators said.
The woman called 9-1-1 to report being raped and beaten, Hall said in a written statement.
"When officers arrived a short time later, the rapist was gone but he left behind a portion of his tongue -- about the size of a 50-cent piece -- which the victim had bitten of and spit out during the attack," he said.
McGowan than badly beat and choked the woman, and stole her cell phone, officials said.
As the woman was being interviewed by Murrieta police at a hospital, "police were notified that a man was at the same hospital saying he cut his tongue on a can," Hall said. Doctors were unable to re-attach the severed portion of tongue.
The Murrieta victim told investigators she was working as a prostitute at the time of the attack, and that she met McGowan through a website on which she advertised "erotic services" before she was beaten, raped and robbed, according to the District Attorney's Office.
When reports of McGowan's arrest found there way into the media, three additional women came forward to report being raped by the West Covina man, Hall said.
One of the victims was McGowan's ex-wife, who reported he had beaten and raped her numerous times between June of 2007 and January of 2009, according to officials and court documents.
A third woman, a former co-worker of McGowan's, also came forward to report he had raped her in January of 2009, according to officials and records.
Another woman, also an admitted prostitute who met McGowan online, also came forward to report being pinned down, choked, raped and robbed by McGowan in April of 2009.
McGowan was ultimately convicted of three counts of rape, four counts of rape of a spouse, two counts of assault with force likely to create great bodily injury, robbery, sodomy by force or fear, and use of force causing serious bodily injury.
PHOTO of Ronald McGowan courtesy of the Murrieta Police Department
ROSEMEAD -- Detectives arrested a Monterey Park man Thursday on suspicion of raping and drugging a woman at a Rosemead motel, authorities said.
Ming He, 27, was booked on suspicion of rape by use of drugs and possession of ketamine, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Kim said in a written statement.
The woman called authorities Thursday after waking up undressed in a motel room in Rosemead, Kim said.
"She told deputies that she remembered going to a night club in Los Angeles the night before with a co-worker, but she did not recall anything after that. She felt that she had been raped," The sergeant said.
Kim declined to say where exactly the alleged assault took place, "due to the sensitive nature of this investigation."
Surveillance video at the motel showed He, "carrying the nearly unconscious victim into a room." Kim said. "Suspect He later left the room by himself. Several hours later, the victim left the room at which time she called the Sheriff's Department for help.
"During the investigation, Suspect He called the victim and admitted that he had drugged her with ketamine, known as a "date rape drug," and had sexual intercourse with her. He also offered to pay her money if she agreed to go away alone for several weeks until things settled down."
Investigators arrested He Thursday night when he arrived at a parking lot near Garfield and Garvey avenues in Monterey Park, where he thought he was going to "discuss the matter" with the woman, Kim said.
According to sheriff's officials and booking records, He was released from jail early Saturday after posting $100,000 bail.
From City News Service:
PASADENA -- A Saugus man pleaded no contest Wednesday to raping a prostitute in an underground parking structure in Pasadena in December 2008.Pasadena Superior Court Judge Dorothy Shubin immediately sentenced Jason Keith Renaux to eight years in prison following his plea to one count of forcible rape.Renaux, 31, also was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, said Deputy District Attorney Carolina Lugo.Renaux took the woman into the underground parking structure on Foothill Boulevard, where he raped her on Dec. 27, 2008, according to the prosecutor.He was also charged in connection with an alleged attack on Nov. 28, 2008, on another prostitute, but that case was dismissed as a result of the plea agreement.Renaux was arrested on Dec. 30, 2008, and has remained jailed since then without bail.
PICO RIVERA -- Officials released a composite sketch Wednesday of a man who sexually assaulted a woman and slashed her face with a knife last month.
A woman was in an alley near Leslie's Swimming Pool Supply, 8434 Rosemead Boulevard, shortly after 7 p.m. on Jan. 24 when she was approached by the attacker, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.
"The suspect threatened the victim and sexually assaulted her," sheriff's officials said in a written statement.
"During the assault, the suspect slashed the victim with a small knife, then fled," the statement continued.
The woman suffered a non-life-threatening cut to her cheek, officials said.
Authorities described the attacker as a Latino man in his mid-20s, about 6 feet tall and 260 pounds. He had bushy eyebrows and spoke with a Spanish accent.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's Pico Rivera Station.
EL MONTE -- A former employee of an El Monte adult day care center pleaded no contest Thursday to sexually assaulting three mentally disabled women, authorities said.
Jose Fernando Flores, 43, of Los Angeles, faces up to eight years in prison when he returns to Pomona Superior Court for sentencing Feb. 17, police and court officials said.
He sexually assaulted three mentally disabled women between 24 and 54 years old after going to work as a cook and bus driver at the Health Start adult day care center in January of 2009, El Monte Police Detective Ralph Batres said.
"It was a very difficult case, because the victims were defenseless," the detective said.
Flores was arrested May 7 of 2010, and confessed to the crimes, police said.
Adult day care centers are regulated and licensed by the California Department of Social Services, officials said, and all employees are required to undergo background checks.
PHOTO of Juan Flores comes courtesy of the El Monte Police Department.
From the Associated Press:
LOS ANGELES -- A second alleged victim has come forward in the investigation into videotaped sexual assaults of severely disabled women, authorities said.
The 27-year-old woman recognized one of the suspects, Ernie Lloyd, in news coverage, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement Friday.
The woman said another suspect, Bert Hicks, sexually assaulted her multiple times between 2007 and 2009 when she lived in a housing facility he operated.
Sheriff's officials also said Friday that they served search warrants at three residences as part of the ongoing investigation, it was reported.
Details of the warrants were not released.
Another woman came forward Monday and said she was assaulted by Lloyd a few years ago at a residential care facility in Los Angeles where they both previously lived.
Sheriff's officials say she has physical disabilities that leave her defenseless.
Lloyd was arrested Jan. 8 after surrendering to police.
At least 10 victims appeared in more than 100 hours of video that a man anonymously delivered to sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park last March.
But prosecutors said the videos alone are not sufficient evidence, telling Sheriff's Department detectives that they need to provide more facts about the women's medical histories, level of disabilities and other information.
"In order to effect a filing, we would either have to prove that the victim did not consent to the sexual acts or she was unable to consent to the sexual acts," the district attorney's office reportedly wrote in a memo. "There is insufficient evidence to prove either of these theories beyond a reasonable doubt."
The woman who came forward Monday also claimed that Hicks married her and took her back to a care facility where she was sexually assaulted by him and Lloyd, investigators said. Hicks, 42, is serving a sentence at Tehachapi State Prison on two felony sex counts and two abuse counts. He is scheduled to be released next year.
The videos, received in the mail, show men sexually assaulting physically and mentally disabled women, some of them in diapers. Officials said it took months for investigators to digitally enhance the grainy footage and produce pictures and artist sketches of the suspects.
Authorities are still seeking two other men seen on the tapes.
MONTEREY PARK -- Sheriff's officials Thursday asked for the public's help in identifying at least eight man captured on video sexually assaulting 10 "severely disabled" women at what appears to be residential care facilities.
More than 100 hours of disturbing video footage was dropped off anonymously, along with a note, at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau in March, Sgt. Dan Scott of the Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau said. After months of enhancing and examining the grainy video, detectives decided to go public in hopes of developing leads.
It was unclear when or where the assaults took place, Detective Ron Anderson said, however at least one suspect was believed to be a residential care facility employee, and another appeared to be a patient. The victims appeared "severely disabled" to the point they appeared unable to give consent, let alone fend off the attacks.
"These suspects and their activity is so heinous that it shocks the conscience," Anderson said.
Even after years investigating sex crimes, "When this (footage) came to me, it was really shocking," the detective added. "We're supposed to protect the helpless, and these people are truly helpless."
Investigators have been able to extract images of the faces of four of the suspects and have created composite drawings from them.
The footage contained no time stamps and nothing to indicate where specifically the crimes took place.
"Detectives from the Special Victims Bureau are concerned that these sexual assaults might still be occurring," Scott said.
An anonymous tipster left 11 DVDs containing the footage at Sheriff's Headquarters before vanishing, investigators said.
A note left with the DVDs said that the tipster was approached by a man in Los Angeles who asked if he could erase a computer hard drive, Scott said.
Before deleting the data and returning the hard drive, he said, the tipster discovered the disturbing and criminal nature of the files and copied them onto DVDs.
The victims in the assaults appear to be between 20 and 40 years old, Scott said.
"These victims are severely disabled," he said, adding that many of them were unable to move and wearing diapers.
Though the assaults could have taken place virtually anywhere, Scott said, "We're assuming it's local because it was turned in to the sheriff here."
Decor and items seen in the videos led detectives to believe that the assaults took place within that past three years or so, investigators said.
Some of the images appear to be taken from surveillance cameras, Scott said, while others appear to have been shot with a handheld camera by accomplices to the assaults.
The videos are believed to be related, and not merely a collection of unrelated scenes, because three of the suspects were seen in the same room, assaulting the same patient, Anderson said.
In one video, he said, one of the suspects can be seen letting another one of the suspects into a patients room, giving detectives the impression he is an employee of the facility where the woman was.
In another video, man in a wheelchair and wearing a diaper is seen entering a room and raping a defenseless patient in her bed.
In some of the videos, the women were treated with force and violence in addition to the sexual assaults. One clip, Anderson said, shows suspects throwing a woman back into her wheelchair after assaulting her.
Detectives want to speak with anyone who can identify the suspects or the facilities shown in the videos, and especially the tipster who dropped off the tapes.
"You have already been a great help by giving us the videos, but we need more help to be able to find the victims," sheriff's officials said in a written statement targeted at the tipster. The information can be left anonymously through L.A. Crimestoppers.
"We are concerned (the victims) are still being abused and want to find them and ensure they are safe."
The Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau can be reached at 866-247-5877, or tips can be left anonymously through Crimestoppers at 800-222-8477.
ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- A wanted parolee allegedly raped, robbed and pepper-sprayed a woman he met at a San Bernardino County casino early Saturday before abandoning her in the Angeles National Forest just south of Mount Baldy, authorities said.
Frederrick Bruno, 31, was booked on suspicion of rape, robbery, assault with a caustic chemical and parole violations, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Vallerand said. His permanent city of residency was not clear Friday, however he has been staying with a friend in Upland.
Bruno and the 25-year-old alleged victim, an Upland woman, met at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland and left together in a vehicle Bruno was driving shortly before 3 a.m., the sergeant said.
He drove the woman to Mount Baldy Road, about two miles south of Mount Baldy, where the alleged attack took place.
"He raped her and Maced her in the face," Vallerand said. "He then took off with her purse and left her stranded in a roadside turnout."
"She ended up walking down the mountain in the middle of the night until a good Samaritan picked her up," he added. She was hospitalized for treatment of apparently minor injuries.
Officials from the sheriff's San Dimas Station, which is investigating the incident, contacted San Bernardino County sheriff's officials to check the casino surveillance tapes, Vallerand said.
The San Bernardino investigators were able to locate surveillance footage of Bruno and the woman leaving the casino together, complete with a license plate number.
Officials tracked the license plate to a home in the 1200 block of North Monte Verde Avenue in Upland, Upland police Lt. John Moore said.
Upland police assisted as Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested Bruno about 11:30 a.m. at the home without further incident, officials said.
According to sheriff's booking records, Bruno was being held without bail and was due for arraignment Tuesday in Pomona Superior Court.
Frederrick Bruno, 31, was booked on suspicion of rape, robbery, assault with a caustic chemical and parole violations, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Vallerand said. His permanent city of residency was not clear Friday, however he has been staying with a friend in Upland.
Bruno and the 25-year-old alleged victim, an Upland woman, met at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland and left together in a vehicle Bruno was driving shortly before 3 a.m., the sergeant said.
He drove the woman to Mount Baldy Road, about two miles south of Mount Baldy, where the alleged attack took place.
"He raped her and Maced her in the face," Vallerand said. "He then took off with her purse and left her stranded in a roadside turnout."
"She ended up walking down the mountain in the middle of the night until a good Samaritan picked her up," he added. She was hospitalized for treatment of apparently minor injuries.
Officials from the sheriff's San Dimas Station, which is investigating the incident, contacted San Bernardino County sheriff's officials to check the casino surveillance tapes, Vallerand said.
The San Bernardino investigators were able to locate surveillance footage of Bruno and the woman leaving the casino together, complete with a license plate number.
Officials tracked the license plate to a home in the 1200 block of North Monte Verde Avenue in Upland, Upland police Lt. John Moore said.
Upland police assisted as Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested Bruno about 11:30 a.m. at the home without further incident, officials said.
According to sheriff's booking records, Bruno was being held without bail and was due for arraignment Tuesday in Pomona Superior Court.
But, the Baldwin Park cops haven't called back.
Here's the composites and Ben Baeder's story:
Police said a man who tried to snatch a 13-year-old girl in Maywood on Tuesday may be the same man who kidnapped and raped a girl in Baldwin Park two weeks ago.A Latino man with acne scars tried to kidnap a 13-year-old girl at 6:45 a.m. as she was walking to school in Maywood, police said.
The man's description was similar to one given by a 15-year-old Baldwin Park girl who said she was kidnapped and raped Oct. 12 while she was cutting school.
"This guy kind of matches the guy up there," said Maywood Police Detective Dale Walker.
The man in the Maywood case was reported as in his mid-30s, 5-feet-11 inches tall and about 170 pounds. The man had dark hair, brown eyes, acne scars and a mole on his right cheek, according to police.
The man in the Baldwin Park case was described as a 5-foot-8 male Latino in his 30s, weighing about 210 pounds with with acne scars, short brown hair and brown eyes.
<snip>
Attempts Tuesday to reach the Baldwin Park detectives handling the case were unsuccessful. Maywood detectives so far have been unable to reach Baldwin Park detectives to discuss the case, Walker said.
The LA Times follow up on the John Floyd Thomas arrest contains a summary paragraph that pretty much says it all:
DNA leads detectives to John Thomas Jr., 72. He is held in two slayings, but police suspect he may have killed up to 30 elderly Westside and Claremont women a decade apart.
The story also contains some interesting background including a tidbit about Thomas' job as an insurance adjuster in Glendale:
Thomas had been working as an adjuster handling workers' compensation claims since 1989 -- the year the killings stopped. He resigned after his arrest March 31.
Jennifer Vargen, a spokeswoman for the State Compensation Insurance Fund, would not comment on whether the employer was aware of Thomas' criminal record, saying it was a personnel matter.
Co-workers at his office in Glendale described Thomas as quiet but friendly. They said his job mostly involved paperwork.
His steady employment masked a troubled past.
Thomas was born in Los Angeles. His mother died when he was 12 and he was raised by his aunt and a godmother. Thomas attended public schools, including Manual Arts Senior High School.
He briefly joined the U.S. Air Force in 1956. At Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, a superior described Thomas as often late and slovenly. He received a dishonorable discharge, according to his military records, and was arrested for burglary and attempted rape in Los Angeles. He was convicted and sentenced to six years in state prison in 1957. Two parole violations sent him back behind bars until 1966.
Meanwhile Pasadena Police are cracking what cold case files they may have left, according PD spokeswoman Janet Pope Givens:
Since Thomas had a prior arrest in Pasadena, detectives are looking into whether any unsolved cases may fit the same description.
"The cold case unit is taking a look at it in terms of some of the other unsolved homicides that may have taken place prior to and after, to see if there is any relation," said Police Department Spokesperson Janet Pope Givens.
Specifically, they are looking into cases involving women who were killed around that time period.
Thomas was originally arrested in Pasadena in 1978 on suspicion of rape, but was convicted of lesser charges, she said.
The file on his arrest, which is more than 30 years old, is no longer available, she said.
CONTRIBUTORS
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| Frank Girardot, Metro Editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, brings you behind the yellow tape with takes on true crime, cold cases and more. This is also your forum to discuss crime, its impact on your neighborhood and how we cover it. Have any questions or tips? You can leave a comment here or e-mail Frank. |
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Brian Day is the crime reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group. E-mail Brian. |
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