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Maywood Rape Suspect Arrested Near Fresno

MAYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A man suspected of raping a woman last weekend in Maywood has been arrested near Fresno, authorities said Saturday.

Salvador Martinez of Maywood, 28, was located and apprehended at about 3:30 p.m. Friday near Fresno. Martinez was transported back to Los Angeles County and arrested on suspicion of rape and other related charges at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's East Los Angeles station.

He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to Deputy Ryan Rouzan of the Sheriff's Information Bureau.

The arrest was made in collaboration with the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force and the LACSD's Major Crimes Bureau, Rouzan said.

Martinez will be arraigned Tuesday at Norwalk Superior Court.

The victim, who is between 30 and 40 years old, was attacked between midnight and 4 a.m. Sunday in her home in the 3600 block of Maywood Avenue, according to Sgt. Betty Lascano of the Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau.

The woman was home alone when the attack occurred, Lascano said.

CBS2's Greg Mills spoke to residents who said they would sleep a little better knowing Martinez was behind bars.

Maywood resident Guillermia Gutierrez says she feels "a little bit safer."

Neighbors told Mills the rape victim and her husband had just moved in about a week ago. The husband was at work during the attack.

In Spanish, neighbor Jose Ocaranza said he had seen Martinez hanging around the apartment building previously.

He didn't want to appear on camera but said, "We just heard noises but didn't hear any screaming."

So far, authorities told Mills they have nothing to link Martinez to a series of break-ins in the area where the suspect fondled and groped women and girls in late October.

Anyone with information about the suspect was urged to call their local law enforcement agency or the Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau hotline at (877) 710-5273.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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