Police Link Rapes in West Valley Parks to 4 Men : Crimes: Three are arrested Tuesday. The alleged ringleader was taken into custody earlier. All are described as transients.

A series of rapes and robberies in west San Fernando Valley parks, in which some victims were tied up with their own belts and shoelaces, were apparently committed by four men from the Canoga Park area, police said Tuesday.

After taking the suspected ringleader into custody early Saturday, Los Angeles police detectives arrested three other men Tuesday morning on suspicion of involvement in three incidents that terrorized 10 people.

Police did not say why the hunt, initially for two men, led to the arrests of four people, all described as transients who frequent the Canoga Park area.

The three arrested Tuesday--Jose Guadalupe Chavez, 20; Jose Rivas Torres, 28, and Francisco Ramirez, 30--were taken into custody at John Quimby Park in Winnetka.

Police Detective Robert Peloquin said he had hoped to arrest only one suspect but discovered all three drinking together in the park about 9:30 a.m.

Because of the string of rapes and robberies, police recently advised people to avoid parks after nightfall. Peloquin cautioned that the arrests do not necessarily mean that any parks in the San Fernando Valley are safe at night.

Meanwhile, the only man suspected of involvement in all four attacks appeared in court Tuesday for an arraignment that was delayed so a public defender could be appointed.

Hector Martinez Rocha, 20, was charged Tuesday with 26 felony counts, including three counts of rape, nine counts of false imprisonment and 12 counts of robbery.

Rocha, who police said was on parole after serving a California Youth Authority prison term, was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail until arraignment Monday.

“We’re very relieved that this man who has preyed upon several young couples is now off the streets,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Risch said.

Rocha was armed with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol when he was arrested just after midnight Saturday during a stakeout in Shadow Ranch Park in West Hills--the same park where the series began May 28, police said.

“Numerous parks in Devonshire and West Valley (police divisions) were under surveillance,” Peloquin said. Rocha was taken into custody after the arresting officers noticed that he clearly matched one of the composite drawings made of the original two suspects last week, he said.

According to authorities, only Rocha and Ramirez were involved in the first attack, in which a couple was forced to undress before they were robbed, and in the second incident at the same park two days later.

In the May 30 incident, Peloquin said, Rocha and Ramirez each raped a teen-age girl after approaching a group of six people just after midnight.

In the third attack, Rocha and Torres approached two women in Chatsworth Park North and robbed the victims after tying them up with their own shoelaces and belts, police said. Chavez’s only involvement in the series was acting as the getaway driver for the other two, according to Peloquin.

The final incident occurred early last Wednesday at Chase Park in West Hills when Rocha, allegedly acting alone, approached a teen-age couple, robbed them and then raped the young woman.

Detectives will present their cases against Chavez, Ramirez and Torres to the district attorney’s office today or Thursday. After reviewing reports and witness statements, the office will determine whether to file charges.