Suspect Arrested in Santa Ana Serial Rapes

A 22-year-old forklift operator was arrested Thursday in connection with a string of brazen sexual assaults that terrorized a north Santa Ana neighborhood. Authorities said they followed a trail of stolen property taken from victims.

Police took Eduardo Alberto Guzman into custody at 6:30 a.m., moments after he left his girlfriend and toddler for work, and booked him on suspicion of rape and burglary.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters said Guzman matches a description of the knife-wielding rapist.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he is the perpetrator,” Walters said. “We’re relieved. For the last two days, we were close.”

Police said the property stolen from the victims included jewelry, credit cards, purses and other items and had been passed on to others.

Guzman’s 17-year-old girlfriend said that he is innocent and that she was home with him watching videos or sleeping when the rapist struck.

“He’s a good guy,” she said of Guzman. “They just want to blame somebody.”

Police officials released few details about the case, saying their investigation is continuing. But sources close to the investigation said detectives are working on the theory that the rapist’s series of crimes actually began as a string of robberies before escalating into sexual assaults.

News of the arrest brought comfort to many in the area where families had grown fearful. Even those who know Guzman expressed relief an arrest had been made.

“I’ve been so nervous because I’m here alone, and I knew this guy was loose,” said Carolyn Rios, who lives opposite Guzman. “I’m so relieved he’s caught, but I’m very sad it turned out to be Eddie.”

Investigators spent the morning searching Guzman’s home, and officers trolled through garbage cans and hauled away a half-dozen grocery bags with evidence.

Guzman’s family watched in anguish as police removed $600 in cash, jewelry, some framed pictures and a woman’s hat from the home. Guzman’s girlfriend said officers also took a “kitchen knife I use to cook.”

The rapist this week narrowly eluded a group of residents who chased him after a sexual assault on Bristol Street, where a woman was raped inside a laundry room of an apartment complex.

Guzman has no major criminal record but was convicted in 1996 of driving a stolen vehicle while a juvenile in Orange County, according to DMV records. He attended Saddleback and Santa Ana high schools, said his older sister, Erlinda Guzman.

Times staff writers Hector Becerra and Stuart Pfeifer contributed to this story.