A homeless man was charged Thursday with attacking four women in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, hitting one of them with a brick and sexually assaulting two others.
Pablo Carlos Pineda, 32, appeared at the Airport Courthouse Thursday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to three counts of forcible rape, two counts each of assault with intent to commit a sex crime, kidnapping and second-degree robbery and one count each of assault likely to produce great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted as charged.
Prosecutors asked for bail of more than $2.6 million for Pineda, who lived on the streets in Santa Monica. He was arrested about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Prosecutors allege Pineda attacked the first woman in Santa Monica on Jan. 13 and then raped another woman there on Feb. 5.
On April 15, he allegedly beat a woman with a brick in the 9000 block of Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Then on July 2, prosecutors allege, he kidnapped and raped a fourth victim in the 1300 block of Westgate Avenue in West Los Angeles. The attacks were investigated by Santa Monica, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police, with assistance from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit.
