LA County Sheriff's Department arrest serial assault suspect accused of attacking elderly women
The man who authorities believe brutally attacked elderly women in downtown and East Los Angeles has finally been arrested after a nearly two-week search.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announced the arrest of suspect Sergio Andrew Garcia, 21 during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
"Although I thought of many other adjectives to describe the suspect, I'm just going to say he was a horrible deviant," Luna said.
Detectives from the sheriff's department and Los Angeles Police Department worked with the United State Marshals to find Garcia. They eventually learned he'd fled to Mexico.
The first assault connected to Garcia happened on July 10 around 8:35 a.m. when he allegedly followed a woman walking under the Harbor (110) Freeway on Olympic Boulevard. The Los Angeles Police Department said he attempted to sexually assault her and tried to remove her clothing.
The following morning around 10:45 a.m. Garcia allegedly approached another woman from behind in the area of Chick Hearn Court and Georgia Street, near Crypto.com Arena, slapped her back and fled, the LAPD reported.
Over the weekend, Garcia is suspected of committing three crimes on Saturday, July 15. The first attack happened to an elderly woman cleaning her front yard in the 1000 block of Fraser Avenue around 6:15 a.m. in East Los Angeles.
The 67-year-old woman was punched several times in the face before Garcia tried to sexually assault her.
"Garcia suddenly approached the victim from behind, pulled her hair and threw her to the ground," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
According to sheriff's detectives, Garcia "punched the victim in the face multiple times."
A couple of hours later, around 9:20 a.m., Garcia allegedly approached another woman as she walked home from church in the 1300 block of South Alvarado Street in the Pico-Union district, police said. He struck her in the face multiple times, knocking her to the ground and causing her to lose consciousness. He stole the woman's property and ran from the scene.
Police said around 15 minutes later, he sexually assaulted a third woman from behind as she was searching through the trunk of her car in the 1300 block of South Burlington Avenue.
"Sadness. How could somebody do something like this?" Luna said this Wednesday. "I look at her and I see my grandmother — I see my mother."
Law enforcement said Garcia is responsible for at least eight cases but believes there are more victims.
"We're not done," said LAPD Chief Michael Moore. "This person did not start this spree on July the 10th."
Garcia is described as 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighing 151 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a mustache. Authorities said he is known to carry a black satchel with red lettering that spells "Gucci."
Anyone with information about any of these crimes or any additional ones is asked to call LAPD Detective Quintanilla at 213-833-3750, or Detective Frias at 213-484-3632 or 213-484-3460.
Tipsters may also call the sheriff's East Los Angeles station at 323-264-4151, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS