Thwarted Rape One of Series of Recent Assaults on Westside

By Anne La Jeunesse

Another Westside woman narrowly escaped becoming the third sexual assault victim in less than two weeks when she battled with her attacker in her Mar Vista area home early Wednesday morning and bit him on one of his hands, police said.

The victim was asleep in her residence in the 3600 block of McLaughlin Avenue when an intruder entered through an open window and tried to rape her and threatened to kill her, according to Los Angeles police.

After being bitten, the man fled through the same window, police said. The woman was unable to provide police with a description of her attacker because it was dark inside of her residence, investigators said. She was not injured.

Detectives of  the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division Sexual Crimes Unit are investigating the incident along with several others that occurred earlier this month.

After those first two assaults in the same general area, Santa Monica police issued a safety alert warning women to be extra cautious because the city is just two miles from the Mar Vista area where the earlier rapes took place.

The suspect in those assaults, which occurred between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m. on Oct. 8 and 10, according to police, is described as Latino, in his 30s, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches tall and weighing between 150 and 160 pounds. His car is described as an American model, and he enters victims' homes through open windows, according to police.

The first two attacks, police said, occurred in the area of Washington and Venice Boulevards between Sawtelle Boulevard and Inglewood Avenue.

It has been only about six months since the Westside was terrorized by a man who assaulted several women after breaking into their apartments.

That rash of rapes and sexual assaults, which occurred last spring in Palms, Venice and Santa Monica, have been attributed by authorities to Jelani Efron King, 21, who faces up to 85 years in prison if convicted on all charges, according to information from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

King is charged with numerous felonies, including rape, residential burglary, attempted rape and assault with great bodily harm.

Before King was arrested, the "Westside Rapist" held the Westside in fear as assaults were reported from various areas.

King has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has been held in Los Angeles County Jail since his arrest in April while awaiting trial.