Blind Woman Tags Attacker by Feeling Car

The blind victim of an attempted sexual assault identified her attacker by the feel, sound and smell of his car, she testified Thursday in San Fernando Municipal Court.

After the testimony, Judge Paul Metzler ordered David Jerry Esington, 28, of Canyon Country to stand trial on charges that he assaulted the blind woman June 3 and assaulted a 38-year-old Tarzana woman a week later.

The blind woman, 35, of Canyon Country, testified that she had no idea who attacked her until someone read her a newspaper article about the arrest of Esington in the second assault case. She said she noticed similarities between that incident, including a description of Esington’s car, and the assault on her. She called sheriff’s deputies.

Deputies took the woman to Esington’s car, a diesel Chevrolet Chevette, which she identified as that of her attacker because it was a compact with fuzzy seat covers, had the smell and sound of a diesel engine and had a manual gearshift.

Esington’s attorney, Larry Layton, said afterward that his client is not guilty. “What troubles me,” he said, “is that there was nothing in the original police reports about the description of the car.” He would not elaborate.

The blind woman testified Thursday that she had been at a bus stop in Newhall about 11 a.m. June 3 when a man pulled up and offered to drive her home. She thought she recognized his voice and accepted the ride, she said.

The man, who introduced himself as David Rich Stevens, told her he had to drop something off at a friend’s house and drove for about a half hour on a long, winding road, the woman testified. He then turned the car around, pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the engine, explaining there was something wrong with the car.

They sat in the car and talked briefly, then he asked her to have sex with him, she testified.

She refused. Shortly afterward, he grabbed her arm and as they struggled, she hit him several times, court records said. The man ordered her to leave his car, shoved her to the ground and drove away, documents said.

A few minutes later, she told deputies, he returned and apologized.

The woman told deputies she tried to “calm him down” by walking with him along the road and urging him to seek psychological counseling.

When they returned to the car, he attacked her again, she testified. They struggled and she ordered him to drop her off at the nearest shopping center. He let her out at a shopping center in Canyon Country.

On Wednesday a Tarzana woman testified that her car had broken down about 3 a.m. June 10 on the Golden State Freeway. She was offered a ride by a man who identified himself as David Rich Stevens and said that he would take her to a nearby gas station.

Instead, he drove her to a remote location in Newhall. At knifepoint, he attacked her and attempted to have sex with her, according to court documents. Patrolling sheriffs’ deputies saw the struggle and made the arrest.

Esington, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with intent to commit rape, is being held in County Jail in lieu of $40,000 bail.