A man accused of beating and trying to rape an elderly woman in East Los Angeles is also suspected of attacking at least five other women this month alone.
The Los Angeles Police Department has joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in the search for 21-year-old Sergio Andrew Garcia. His latest victim, a 67-year-old woman, has been in a neck brace, her eyes still swollen shut, after surviving the attack and attempted rape right in front of her home.
Police believe four of Garcia’s alleged crimes happened between July 10 and 16, over an 8-mile stretch everywhere from downtown LA to East LA.
“The suspect is violent and he takes property from his victims, and unfortunately he seems to prey on women,” LAPD Officer J. Chavez said.
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Police say Garcia’s crime spree started at 8:35 a.m. on July 10, when he allegedly followed a woman on foot and sexually assaulted her under the 110 Freeway at Olympic Boulevard and LA Live Way.
The next morning, outside the Convention Center, Garcia slapped a woman in the back and ran, the LAPD said.
Four days after the first two attacks – on July 15 – detectives say Garcia attacked three more women, starting with the brutal assault on 67-year-old Rosalina Martinez in East LA.
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“As of right now, she’s still unable to open her eyes, still a lot of swelling,” said Gilbert Carrillo, Martinez’s son-in-law.
Then, three hours later, police say Garcia was at it again. At 9:20 a.m. Saturday, near South Alvarado and Hoover streets, they say he approached a woman leaving church and he struck her in the face, knocking her unconscious.
“They attacked her in the corner of the church, the front of it. She was beaten up in the corner of her eye, and like her mouth was bleeding,” a witness told NBC4.
Fifteen minutes after that attack, less than a half mile away, police say Garcia sexually assaulted another woman at Burlington Avenue and West Pico Boulevard.
The LAPD has tied to Garcia to a 6th attack, but they haven’t provided a specific location as to where that happened, except for saying it was in East LA.
Garcia remains on the run. He’s described as standing 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighing 151 pounds and sporting a moustache. Police said he’s known to carry a black satchel with red “Gucci” lettering.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police.
