Sheriff’s release composite sketch, ask for public’s help

Captain Anthony La Berge of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station released a composite sketch of a suspect wanted in connection with a sexual assault that occurred on June 26th.

 

The suspect may also be connected to two other sexual assaults; one on January 6th, and the other on March 29th.

 

The two previous incidents have been linked to the same suspect by the Sheriff’s Department’s crime lab, and similar circumstances have them considering that this latest attack may be connected as well.

 

All three attacks occurred in Canyon Country in the early morning hours. Also, in all three cases, the suspect did not force entry into the residence. Instead, the suspect entered through an unlocked door or open window.

 

In the most recent case, the victim  was not raped because she screamed loudly and the suspect ran off.   

 

After the first two cases, the Sheriff’s Department issued a warning to the public with the suspect’s description and warnings to residents to lock their doors. LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

 

Now that there is a third case, Antonovich has offered an additional $10,000 reward for information leading to the identity and arrest of this suspect, Should the suspect turn out to be responsible for all three attacks here in Santa Clarita, then the informant would receive both rewards.  

 

Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Deputies are asking for the public’s help in locating the man pictured here. He is described as a male Hispanic, about thirty years old, standing 5 foot seven inches tall and weighing 170 pounds.

 

Captain La Berge ended his statement by also calling on the public to help protect themselves. “What we are asking today is that the public be especially diligent about locking their doors and windows at night, reporting suspicious activity or persons in their areas, and we’re asking that anyone having information about this crime or the identity of the suspect that you see here, is asked to call Detective John Gill at the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s station at (661) 255-1121.”

 

Anonymous tips can also be called in at (661) 284 2847.

 

The victim of the most recent attack showed up to the press conference on her own behalf and spoke with reporters about how she believes the Sheriff’s Department’s investigation has not been satisfactory.

 

Captain La Berge responded to questions about why the Department did not release the sketch in late June when it was drawn.

“We had several bits of information that seemed promising that we wanted to follow up on,” he said.

 

Captain La Berge went on to say that they were concerned about compromising some of the leads they had, and they didn’t want to drive the suspect underground. Once the leads dried up, they brought the sketch forward. 

 

[view:node_ad=5]“A lot of times people watch crime shows on T.V. and think that a lot of crimes are investigated and solved in one hour. The reality is that there has been continuing investigation going on in all three of these incidents. There are certain things that we wanted to do to identify and apprehend this individual through investigative practices first. Once those leads dried up, we then felt it was necessary now to ask for the public’s support in helping us identify this individual,” commented Captain La Berge.

 

NOTE: To see a bigger picture of the suspect, head over to our “Catch A Crook” section.