Woman Molested by Man Who Hid in Her Car

A woman was kidnapped at knifepoint in broad daylight by a man who hid in her parked car and sexually molested her before she escaped, sheriff’s deputies said.

The attacker hid on the rear floorboard until the victim returned from shopping Monday and drove away from a strip-mall parking lot at 15th Street and West Avenue J-12, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. He then put a knife to her neck and told her to give him her money.

“She told him she didn’t have any money,” Deputy Rick Nolte said. “Then he started riffling through her purse.”

The man didn’t find any money, so he ordered her to continue driving as he sexually assaulted the woman, Nolte said. At a storage facility on West Avenue L, the woman slowed down the car at a speed bump and escaped from the vehicle, Nolte said.

She called for help at a pay phone, but the man was gone by the time authorities arrived, Nolte said.

The woman suffered a superficial laceration to her neck, he said.