Sheriff officials were searching for a man suspected of brutally attacking a 67-year-old woman outside her East Los Angeles home Saturday.
On Tuesday morning, the suspect was identified as 21-year-old Sergio Andrew Garcia. He was described to be about 5-feet, 5-inches tall and 180 pounds.
The LAPD also announced it was involved in the case because it believes the same person may be connected with similar crimes within the city of Los Angeles.
The victim, Rosalina Martinez, said she was doing what she does every Saturday morning. She was outside cleaning her garden when a man attacked her.
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Martinez has been in a neck brace, her eyes still swollen shut, after surviving the attack and attempted rape right in front of her home.
“My neighbors saved me,” Martinez said.
Martinez's neighbors, too afraid to speak on camera, shared a video with NBCLA. The man seen running away in the video matches a detailed description of the attacker released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
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The neighbors gave the sheriff’s department detectives a video with a clear picture of the man they say is the attacker.
“I’m scared now. Before, I wasn’t, but now I am," Martinez said.
Security cameras from a nearby house captured images showing Martinez cleaning her gate around 6 a.m. on Saturday.
The attacker rides up on a bike, parks it, approaches Martinez and beats her behind a parked car. She said the man immediately began punching her eyes and believes he did it so she wouldn’t be able to identify him.
“She could have been dead, she could have been killed," said Gilberto Carrillo, the victim’s son-in-law.
Carrillo said he’s disgusted by the assault on his mother-in-law.
“When we found her, she was pretty much semi-naked," he said. "I’m just thankful the neighbors intervened and prevented it from going any further."
Those who live nearby were shaken, hoping detectives would make a quick arrest.
“Now that there is video of this guy, I pray that he gets caught and pays for that because she doesn’t deserve that. No one does. Absolutely no one does,” said Alma Martinez, a neighbor.
The victim's family said that despite her ordeal, she is in good spirits and looking forward to recovering.
The public was asked to call the sheriff’s department in East LA with any information regarding this case.
