Rape Suspect Linked to Possible Kidnap Try

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  Police warned parents Sunday afternoon to closely guard their children after a second girl was possibly targeted for abduction by a man who looked like the attacker of a 12-year-old girl raped last week in a city park bathroom.

In the most recent incident, an 11-year-old girl was accosted at noon Saturday by a man on a bike as she walked along Oxnard Street near Vineland Avenue, two miles from the site of Thursday’s assault at Valley Plaza Park in North Hollywood. The man demanded that the girl accompany him but sped off when she refused, police said.

At a meeting with about 100 community members at a local church Sunday, police and city officials said they feared the two incidents were related, presaging the possibility of future assaults.

“We’re encouraging parents to be extra vigilant at this time,” said Los Angeles Police Capt. Richard Wahler of the North Hollywood Community Station. “Don’t let your children, especially your daughters, out of sight.”

The suspect in both incidents was described as an African American male, about 25 to 35 years old, 5-feet-10 to 6-feet tall, weighing 150 to 200 pounds. His most distinctive feature is a shaved head, police said. During Thursday’s assault, the assailant was described as wearing a three-quarter-length black leather jacket, black dress pants and black shoes with laces.

“We had a sexual assault and an attempted kidnapping,” Wahler said of the two incidents in a three-day period.

“We have received many, many clues, some of which were very promising. There is every reason to believe we will have someone in custody soon,” said Det. Karen Crawford, who is investigating both incidents.

Wahler made a personal appeal to the man, urging him to turn himself in: “It is my belief that you feel badly about what you’ve done. We can get some help for you for what you’ve done.”

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Authorities described a series of responses to the two incidents during the afternoon meeting at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, located near Valley Plaza Park.

Councilman Joel Wachs, in whose district the incidents took place, said he plans to ask the City Council to post a $25,000 reward at Tuesday’s meeting.

Wahler said police had stepped up activity in the area, including bringing in members of the horse patrol to cover the park. City park rangers have begun entering and checking park bathrooms during routine patrols.

Police worry that if one man is involved in both incidents, he may be especially vicious since both took place during daylight in public places against young girls. In Thursday’s assault, the man used a gun to force the 12-year-old girl into the recreation center’s bathroom.

An adult witnessed the apparent attempted kidnapping Saturday, possibly frightening the man away, police said.

Crawford said rapists who continue to avoid capture may become more bold.

“We are very concerned that they become more brazen over time,” Crawford said.

Crawford and other experts at the forum were hard pressed to describe the best course of action for a child to take to prevent such an attack, because the circumstances in such encounters vary widely.

In general, children should be taught to immediately turn away from strangers attempting to entice them, some at the meeting said. If the stranger persists, the child should scream and try to run away. Some suggested that parents practice screaming with their children.

All the officials involved in Sunday’s meeting attempted to calm fears that the city’s parks are unsafe. Although Hector Hernandez, chief park ranger, said his rangers routinely respond to calls of disputes at Valley Plaza, there have been no serious crimes recently.

“I’m surprised and shocked that this occurred,” Hernandez said.

Those in attendance said they welcomed the attention from city leaders.

Several people complained that a lingerie business near the park has recently begun to attract men in search of prostitutes. One man said the business, like a neighborhood filled with broken windows, invites crime. He blamed the city for not moving fast to close the shop.

“If you don’t clean up the broken glass, you attract the more undesirable elements,” said Ron Bitzer, head of a group he called the Coalition for Neighborhood Quality and Safety.

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Wachs said the city attorney’s office is looking into complaints against the business.

Others in attendance, however, said parents must take responsibility for their children.

Lynn Taylor and Riva Martin sat with their young daughters in pews at the back of the church to listen to the city officials. As late afternoon light streamed through the church’s stained glass windows, the mothers said the incidents are a depressing reminder of the city’s ever-present potential for danger.

“The police can’t be everywhere,” Taylor said. “It’s sad we have to live our lives this way.”

Said Riva: “It’s not like when we were growing up.”