Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Police seek man in 4 sex assault cases west of I-15

Sketch

Metro Police released two composite sketches of one man sought in connection with four sex assaults and attempted assaults. Police are looking for one man, but released two sketches created after separate assaults.

Updated Thursday, July 1, 2010 | 12:30 p.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Metro Police are looking for a red or maroon vehicle suspected of being used in four sexual assaults along Flamingo Road.

Click to enlarge photo

Metro Police are looking for a red or maroon vehicle suspected of being used in four sexual assaults along Flamingo Road.

Metro Police are looking for a man suspected of sexually assaulting four women. In two cases, police say he forced women into his car.

Police said the first incident occurred May 9 and the last of the four occurred June 19. Three incidents occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., while one occurred in the evening.

Police said the man approached the women in the area of Flamingo Road between Arville Street and Valley View Boulevard, and also in the area of Arville Street and Spring Mountain Road.

Authorities said during a morning news conference that the man approached the women as they were walking or waiting at a bus stop, seeming polite each time. He was able to convince two of the women to get into his car, while in two other cases police say he forced the women into his car.

He then drove the women to different areas in western and northern parts of the valley and sexually assaulted them, police said. Investigators said one women was raped.

The man was described as Hispanic, between 20 and 30 years old, standing between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10-inches tall and weighing between 170 and 200 pounds. He was driving a small red or maroon car, police said.

In all four incidents the victims were white women between 18 and 30 years old.

Police released two composite sketches of the suspect, saying the descriptions of the man provided by two victims were "very similar in nature." Police said the man hasn't displayed a weapon in any case.

"We do not have a huge number of stranger sexual assaults in this community, so it is relatively uncommon in this case to have somebody who doesn't know the victims," said Metro Lt. Rob Lundquist.

Police are also urging other possible victims to come forward — the sooner, the better for statements and physical evidence, authorities said.

"What would help us is this: if these victims understand this is not your fault," Lundquist said. "It's not your fault this happened to you, and it may be embarrassing, but as a law enforcement entity, our job is, number one, to make sure you are safe, and number two, to move forward with the prosecution."

Police said they are boosting patrols in the area. They're also asking citizens to use common-sense safety practices, such as traveling in numbers and avoiding strangers.

"If you're waiting at the bus stop or walking down the street, be aware of who is around you and have a safety plan in mind," Lundquist said. "If you know that you're going to be in a certain area and that's a normal course you travel each day, know where you're going to go if someone approaches you."

Police said the suspect likely will face a variety of charges including sexual assault, attempted sexual assault and kidnapping.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incidents or other possible victims to call police, or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

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