Arrest Made In South LA Serial Rape Case
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The LAPD says they've arrested a serial rapist who has been preying on prostitutes in South L.A. since January of 2014.
As KCAL9/CBS2's Tom Wait reports, detectives say they caught the guy because they were monitoring the area where he was leaving his victims after raping them.
The LAPD says the suspect -- 35-year-old Ferdinand Flowers -- drove either a white Honda Civic or a Dodge Ram pickup truck during the assaults.
Detectives say Flowers would trick his victims into thinking he wanted to pay for sex -- once he got them into his vehicle, police say Flowers would hold them at gunpoint and rape them. He would then leave them in the Dominguez Hills area, which is where police were patrolling the night he was caught.
There were 13 victims. Possibly more.
"Probably because they were vulnerable victims and that was what he was going after with the sex acts," said Capt. Billy Hayes at a press conference at LAPD headquarters downtown announcing the arrest. "You have the females involved out there involved with prostitution activity."
Police are still working the case. They say Flowers worked as a security guard and lived in Long Beach.
