LAPD Warns Women: Do Not Walk Alone, ‘Teardrop Rapist’ At Large

The Los Angeles Police Department is cautioning all women in the area not to walk alone as they undergo a manhunt for a serial sexual assailant referred to as the “teardrop rapist.”

Over the last 15 years the man known as the “teardrop rapist” is believed to have been responsible for at least 28 sexual assaults, the first linked case believing to have occurred in April 1996. The latest case occurred in November when a 15 year old girl in Southwest L.A. walking during the early hours of the morning was pulled into a yard and sexually assaulted.

11 of the attacks have been linked through DNA.

The pattern of attacks is unusual because of two long gaps, one from 2003 to 2006 and another from 2006 until last November.

In 2003 a fifteen year old girl walking in the area of Hoover Avenue and Gage Avenue was approached by a man asking for directions. When she stopped to help, the man pulled a gun on her and directed her to a nearby alley where he sexually assaulted her before running away. Authorities held a news conference asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect, releasing sketches of the “teardrop rapist.”

After the conference the assailant did not strike again for three years, with an attack in the Century area.

Another six years passed until the Nov. 10 attack in Southwest L.A.

The assailant at the time of the earlier attacks was described as a male Latino between the ages of 30 and 40 years old with brown eyes and brown hair who’s height is between 5? 5? to 5? 9? and weighing roughly 150 lbs. He is believed to have one or more teardrop shaped tattoos below one of his eyes.

Police are asking for any information that may help identify the suspect and lead to an arrest.

Click here to be taken to a video of the news conference.