Irvine police arrest man suspected of carjacking his date

Police say they’ve arrested a man on suspicion of attacking a woman he was dating and then stealing her car Tuesday night in Irvine.

Tarrin Joseph Rippel, 29, was driving with his victim at about 7 p.m. near the intersection of Alton Parkway and Jeffrey Road when the two got into an argument, police said.

Rippel “punched the victim and then forced her out of her car” before driving off, Irvine police spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

The attack left the woman with a bloody nose, a black eye, a cut near her eye and bruising, according to authorities, who took her to a local hospital.

After interviewing witnesses and the victim, police believed Rippel — who is homeless — may have fled to the city of Cypress, Emami said.

With the help of Cypress police, they found the victim’s car in a neighborhood on Wednesday morning, Emami said.

Around 1 p.m. that day, detectives watched Rippel leave a home in the area and get into the car where they arrested him on suspicion of domestic violence and carjacking, police said.

He was taken into custody without incident and is being held at Orange County Jail, according to authorities.

Rippel has previous pleaded guilty in Orange County to felony domestic violence in 2010 and three counts of second-degree burglary in 2014, according to court records.