Man accused of assaulting women in Fairfax district and West Hollywood

Los Angeles police arrested a man Thursday on suspicion of sexually assaulting two women in the Fairfax district and West Hollywood earlier this week.

In a security video, a man in a baseball cap, gray-and-black-striped T-shirt and black pants can be seen forcibly escorting a woman down the sidewalk in the 800 block of Vista Street and then entering a parking garage. Investigators say he attempted to rape the woman, who was able to break free and run away.

The attack occurred at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. In the second incident, about 20 minutes later, the same man tried to push his way into a woman’s apartment in 7600 block of Hampton Avenue in West Hollywood, authorities say.

He had apparently followed the woman to her home. He used a gloved hand to try to muffle her screaming, police said, but fled after the struggle drew the attention of neighbors.

In an unrelated incident in the area Wednesday, a woman was stabbed outside a Footlocker store in the 7700 block of Melrose Avenue. She’d been waiting in line for a Nike shoe release when the physical altercation with a man unfolded. A suspect was arrested.

So far in 2022 in the Wilshire Division of the LAPD, violent crime is on par with 2021 but nearly 18% above that in 2020.