Woman Raped, Spouse Beaten in Carjacking

Police on Tuesday were looking for two suspects who carjacked a young Covina couple in Sherman Oaks, raped the wife repeatedly and beat the husband.

The 2 1/2-hour ordeal ended early Tuesday, police said. The victims, a married couple in their early 20s, told authorities they were sitting in their black Ford pickup about 10 p.m. Monday when two men walked up and pointed a semiautomatic handgun at them.

“This [crime] was particularly vicious and these suspects acted in an inhumane manner,” said Lt. Anthony Alba, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. “They preyed upon an innocent couple who went along with their crime to survive.”

At the time of the attack, the couple was parked behind The Ventura, a private banquet hall in the 13900 block of Ventura Boulevard near Stern Avenue, police said.

On Monday evening the hall was hosting “a Boy Scouts event full of little kids, and it was over with by 9 o’clock,” said Julie Otey, an employee of the banquet hall.

Otey said the area where the couple parked was a valet-only lot not open to the public. “They would’ve had no business being there,” she said.

Alba said the couple told police the suspects--who appeared to be in their 20s--climbed into the pickup’s large passenger cab and ordered the husband to drive away.

The husband was ordered to pull over and get into the truck’s flatbed, where one suspect held a gun to his head as the other suspect raped his wife in the truck’s cab, police said.

Police said the suspects then were believed to have switched places and continued assaulting the wife. They also hit the husband’s face repeatedly with their fists, bruising and cutting him, police said.

The couple said the carjackers also forced them to drive to an ATM near Cedros Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, where the suspects tried to get the husband to withdraw money but were unsuccessful because there was no money in the account, Alba said.

Around 12:30 a.m., the victims were ordered to drive to Matilija Avenue and Valleyheart Drive near Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, where a third man--who also appeared to be in his 20s-- waited for them in a red two-door compact car, police said. The two suspects got into that car and all three sped away.

Both victims were taken to a nearby hospital and released a few hours later, police said.

“Their physical injuries were minimal compared to the psychological scars they will bear for some time,” Alba said.

The police would not release additional information about the victims except that they were robbed of money, jewelry and a wallet.

“We’re desperately seeking information on the suspects,” Alba said. He said anyone with information should call the Van Nuys Division at (818) 756-8747.