Police Hunt Suspect In Garden Grove Area Who Viciously Attacked 5 Women
GARDEN GROVE (CBSLA.com) — Police in Anaheim Friday said they were stepping up the hunt for a heavily-tattooed suspect wanted for the violent assault of five women within a one-and-a-half mile radius.
The attacks, including a stabbing, occurred on Thursday evening around Garden Grove and Anaheim, authorities said. The attacks occurred within a 5-hour period.
At a Friday afternoon news conference, law enforcement officials issued a composite sketch of the suspect as well as some video showing him coming and going from an Anaheim motel.
KCAL9's Michele Gile reported that two of the women were attacked inside that motel.
Gile spoke to one man who saw one of his neighbors following what is believed to be the first of the attacks.
"She looked like she had been in a UFC fighter. She was just covered in blood. She was in shock, she had just been walking home," said Clayton Stowers.
The victim in that assault is a teenager. He said she was attacked in front of a mobile home on Euclid Street in Garden Grove about 5:30 p.m. The victim was returning home from her job at McDonald's.
"She comes walking around this corner here, and she's just covered in blood. And like I said, I can't imagine. I don't know how she wasn't just completely knocked out," Stowers said.
She was walking on the sidewalk when the man apparently accosted her and attacked without any provocation.
"She said he just came up from behind and wailed [on] her. He nose was busted, she busted some teeth, her jaw. Her nose was busted completely open. She had blood all over. She was just panicked. She didn't know why," said Stowers.
The suspect remains at large.
The second attack took place around 7:15 p.m.
Police said a woman came home to find a burglar, the suspect, inside her house on Clarissa Street. He used a knife as he fought with the woman. He reportedly stabbed her three times.
Officials said that victim is expected to make a full recovery.
Neighbor Alberto Roden said "It's scary. We close all our windows."
Two women staying at the Alamo Hotel in Anaheim were the third and fourth victims, police said. They were beaten in the hotel's hallway, and police believe this was also an attempted sexual assault.
The last victim in this crime spree was out jogging and also assaulted on Lampson Street in Garden Grove around 10:30 p.m. Police told Gile that victim was able to get away but also seriously hurt in the attack.
The suspect, considered armed and dangerous, is described as a male white or Latino in his early 20's, with tattoos on both arms. He was last seen wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Police also believe he has a piercing in his lower lip.
Police said not to approach the suspect but if you see him to call 911 immediately.
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