2 Women Attacked by Man in Ojai Area

Two women living four miles apart in the normally quiet Ojai area were raped or sexually assaulted Friday morning, apparently by the same man, authorities said.

Investigators are searching for a man they think sexually assaulted a 64-year-old Ojai woman about 6 a.m. Friday and then raped a 54-year-old woman in her home just east of Ojai about 10:30 a.m.

By contrast, there were no rapes in Ojai in 1993, crime statistics show.

“I think that’s a reasonable assumption, that it is the same person,” Sgt. Mark Novak said. “I had heard . . . that in both instances the suspect smelled of cigarette smoke and that led detectives to guess he possibly may be a heavy smoker.”

Sheriff’s Department descriptions of the suspect in both attacks were almost identical.

In the sexual assaults, one at Taormina Lane in Ojai and one at El Jina Lane just east of the city, the suspect was described as a 5-foot-7, 150-pound white man between the ages of 25 and 30 with short reddish-blond hair. He wore a green T-shirt, tennis shoes and a stocking mask and walked with a slight limp.

In the rape on El Jina Lane, the description added one detail--that the man had a closely cropped beard.

Novak said details about the attacks were still sketchy late Friday.

In the earlier crime, the woman, who lives alone, was assaulted but not raped, Novak said. “How he got into the house, at this point, nobody knows,” Novak added.

A sheriff’s statement said that the suspect stayed in the woman’s home for about 45 minutes, until she jumped through her bedroom window and screamed for help. The man fled.

The woman received minor injuries during her escape and was treated by Ventura County Fire Department employees.

A neighbor who heard the woman’s cry called the Sheriff’s Department. The man was seen running west from the victim’s home, which is in a community where mostly senior citizens live.

The woman who was raped was also alone, in her east Ojai Valley home, Novak said. She was treated at Ventura Medical Center and released, Novak said.

“The victim did not sustain serious (physical) injuries,” Novak said. “She was taken there to be treated for the rape.” The suspect again was seen running from the woman’s home.

Councilwoman Nina Shelley, herself a retired senior citizen, said such crimes are rare for Ojai. “This is intolerable, and it must not happen again if we can possibly prevent it.”