Police Warn of Serial Rapist Targeting Elderly in Homes

Los Angeles police are searching for a serial rapist who has attacked or robbed three elderly women in Hancock Park and Hollywood in the last two weeks and tried to assault at least two others who escaped.

“We have a very sick individual who is preying on our senior citizens,” said City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents the area. “It’s very scary.”

On Wednesday, police issued a warning and a sketch of the man. It will be posted at senior citizens centers and other locations.

The first attack took place on the afternoon of July 27. An 87-year-old woman home alone near 3rd and June streets in Hancock Park stepped into her backyard for a moment, leaving her back door open. When she returned, an intruder inside demanded her money and ransacked her house. Then he sexually assaulted her and locked her in a closet. When she freed herself, he was gone.

The next day, a 75-year-old woman was watching television in her home in the 6000 block of Ivarene Avenue in Hollywood when an intruder suddenly put his hand over her mouth. He demanded money, went through her things and sexually assaulted her.

Two days earlier, two women are believed to have foiled the same man, said Det. Mitzi Roberts. An 81-year-old living near Vine and Melrose asked a man for identification when he tried to enter her home, and he fled. And an 82-year-old woman in the same area refused to open her door.

Then, last Sunday afternoon, an 82-year-old woman in Hancock Park answered a knock at her door, and a man forced his way in and robbed her.

In most cases, the attacker has taken money and jewelry.

All the women described the man as olive-skinned, 25 to 35, with a receding hairline, sometimes wearing a black ball cap.