Police are on the lookout for a man they say sexually assaulted at least four women in L.A.’s Palms neighborhood this week.
Three of the assaults took place Tuesday and one took place Monday, according to Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Steve Embrich.
Tuesday’s attacks all took place along Kelton Avenue, officials said. One was reported Tuesday morning at Kelton Avenue and National Boulevard; another at about 6 p.m at Kelton Avenue and Queensland Street; and the third at about 9 p.m. at Kelton Avenue and Palms Boulevard.
The exact location and time of Monday’s attack was not available.
A woman told KTLA she was getting items out of her car at about 9 p.m. when she noticed a man driving past her slowly and thought it was strange.
After going inside an apartment complex and coming back outside, the victim said she then saw the same man jogging toward her. She smiled, thinking the man was just a jogger, she said. The man suddenly grabbed her.
“He pulled me back toward him and then he pulled my pants down. And then he tried to… just grab me,” she said. “I just instantly turned around, just screaming and swinging.”
The startled woman managed to land a punch on the attacker, she said. Her boyfriend chased after the man, but he managed to get into a car and drive off.
The victim’s boyfriend, Louis King, said it appeared there was another person driving the car.
An area surveillance camera caught an image of a silver- or champagne-colored Mercedes-Benz sedan the woman said she believes was involved in the assault. The victim described her attacker as about 5 feet 6 inches tall and thin.
Another woman reported a similar attack about three hours prior.
She was out for a walk and had headphones on when she felt someone aggressively grab her from behind, she said.
Anyone with information can reach the LAPD at 877-275-5273. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
