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VIDEO: Man Arrested After Pointing Replica Gun At Irvine Office Cleaner In Attempted Rape

IRVINE (CBSLA) — Police Thursday arrested a man they say threatened a cleaning woman with a replica gun while she was alone in an Irvine office building.

Still images and video of the attack were released Thursday, the day after the early-morning attack at an office at 17877 Von Karman Ave.

Police say the man got into the office through an unlocked door and approached a woman wearing a backpack-style vacuum as she cleaned the office. He asked the woman in Spanish if she was the only person there, and when she said yes, he made aggressive sexual comments and ordered her to have sex with him, according to police.

The video of the attack shows the woman slowly backing into a cubicle partition and taking out her cell phone when the man takes out a gun and points it at her.

The suspect pushed the woman into another room and forcefully tried to undress her, according to police. The woman pleaded for her life for four minutes as she fought him off, and eventually was able to overpower him and disarm him, police said. She ran for help in a nearby building.

attempt-rape-irvine
(credit: Irvine Police Department)

A weapon recovered at the location was determined to be a replica Glock handgun. The victim, who also reported seeing a knife during the attack, suffered bruising to her arms, hands and breast and scratches to her face.

Police took the suspect into custody by late Thursday afternoon.

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