Authorities plan to canvas Hispanic neighborhoods on Thursday.ĭespite victims' conflicting descriptions, police believe one man is responsible for 35 sexual assaults. The latest assault attempt in the case was June 15, police said. Now, a task force of 20 police detectives is following new leads and resurrecting any clues from previous cases dating back to 1996. Then, a couple of months later, the DNA results matched 10 other sexual assaults that police have linked to the same man, known as the “teardrop rapist.”Īfter investigating some leads, police decided last month to go public with the DNA findings that showed the “teardrop rapist” had struck again after an apparent six-year hiatus. At the time, it was initially investigated as another sexual assault case. The suspect approached the victim by asking for directions, then pulled out a gun and forced her into a yard, where he sexually assaulted her. in the morning hours last November when a 15-year-old Latina was walking in a residential neighborhood. The attack that put this cold case back in the spotlight occurred at 5:30 a.m. We are asking parents to ensure that their young teenage daughters are accompanied.” Police Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese has this warning for residents citywide: “For families that have teenage daughters walking we have had several occurrences where the victim has been as young as 14, 15 years old. Now, just seven months later, he has struck yet again making his capture a top priority for the Los Angeles Police Department, which has launched a massive manhunt to end the assaults. Then in 2005, he stopped.įor seven years, the case went cold until November when, according to recent DNA tests, the man attacked again. Since 1996, police believe the same man assaulted girls and women 35 times throughout a broad swath of the city center.
But he leaves behind his DNA and – for his victims – the memory of a teardrop tattoo on his face.ĭubbed the “teardrop rapist,” the man is one of Los Angeles’ most prolific criminals. Then he quickly brandishes a knife or gun and forces his victims to a secluded nearby area, where he sexually assaults them.
While on foot, he approaches his female victims, many of them minors, as they walk alone to school or wait at a bus stop, and he strikes up a casual conversation with them. Police say he strikes in the early morning hours, often before the sun comes up, and his method is usually the same.
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