Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Driver Sought in Hitchhiker’s Rape

PALMDALE —  Authorities on Monday were searching for a man who raped and assaulted a 22-year-old woman in a field off Sierra Highway, authorities said.

The woman was walking near 5th Street East and Avenue R about 11:10 p.m. Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Ullman said. A man in a white compact car drove up and offered her a ride, he said, and she got in.

But the man drove her to a field off Sierra Highway and began to rape her, Ullman said. When the woman struggled he beat her, then drove away, Ullman said.

Sgt. Bobby Denham said there are few rapes of such ferocity reported in the Antelope Valley. “Certainly, people who hitchhike or pick up hitchhikers are at great risk,” he said.