LAPD Releases New Video Of Child Rape Suspect, Asks For Public's Help With Identification
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) - Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who they say sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl.
The incident occurred last Sunday when the suspect, seen in video, followed the teenage victim from the downtown Long Beach train station headed north to LA. Then, the victim and the suspect both got on the same MTA bus and both exited at San Pedro Place and Vernon Avenue.
When the 16-year-old girl began walking down the street, police say the suspect grabbed her by the neck, threatened to killer and forced her into an apartment complex parking lot where he raped her.
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"It's very malicious and very terrifying because I'm a mother," said the victims neighbor L. Fields.
Those that heard about the attack said they are horrified that the young girl was preyed upon and traumatized. It makes them worry for their own children, teenage girls who sometimes also travel alone.
"I taught her to don't want to catch the bus around and to pay attention. So, she'd rather just not go nowhere," Fields said.
The LAPD says the suspect is about 6 foot 2 inches, 200 pounds with a muscular build and has dreadlocks. Investigators believe he is about 35 years old and when he walked about security cameras at the Long Beach station, he appeared to be wearing reading glasses.
"Hopefully, they'll find him and he'll have to pay for whatever he's done," Fields said.
Detectives are asking for the public's assistance identifying the suspect and urge anyone who may recognize him to call LAPD's Juvenile Division.
