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City Offers $50K To Find 'Teardrop Rapist' Accused of 28 Assaults Since 1996
Photos courtesy of the LAPD
The city of Los Angeles is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the man nicknamed the "Teardrop Rapist," who is suspected of committing over 28 sexual assaults in the county since 1996.
The suspect is accused of sexually assaulting women all the way from the 77th Division in South Los Angeles to the Rampart Division Northwest of downtown, according to a release from the LAPD. Although his victims range in age from 14 to 41, the sexual assaults followed a pattern. He chats up women that he finds by themselves in the early morning hours on their way to work or school between 5:30 am and 8 am. Then he pulls a gun or knife and forces the women to go to a more secluded area where he assaults them.
One of the most recent assaults occurred last November. The suspect asked a 15-year-old woman for directions around the area of Adams Boulevard and Normandie Avenue around 5:30 am. The attack was linked to the others by DNA evidence.
The suspect is connected with 25 sexual assaults inside city boundaries and 3 in the Firestone-Florence area of the county. The suspect has been described as a Hispanic male, standing at 5 feet 2 inches and weighing between 130 and 200 pounds. He has brown eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. He has been described as being 27 to 40 years old (although we'd guess now he would be on the older side of the spectrum if he's been active since 1996). He might have a teardrop tattoo (or a scar where a teardrop tattoo used to be).
If you know anything that might help police arrest him, the city will be offering up a $50,000 reward, according to CBS Los Angeles. Anyone who has information can email tips to rhd-sas@lapd.lacity.org or call 1-877-LAPD-24-7
(877-527-3247).
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