2 Men Questioned in 2nd Police Sweep for Sepulveda Dam Rapist

A 35-member Los Angeles police task force took into custody two suspects matching the description of a man believed to have raped three women in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, but authorities said Sunday that they can’t be sure either is the attacker.

One man was picked up late Saturday night about a half-mile from where one of the attacks occurred, police said. But he was released after showing police enough identification to prove he is not a transient. Police have said they believe that the attacker in at least two of the rapes was a transient who lives in heavily wooded parts of the recreational area.

The other man was detained early Sunday 50 yards from the scene of the most recent attack, which occurred in the morning a week ago, police said. He remained in custody until Sunday afternoon, when authorities decided that they did not have enough evidence to charge him with one or more of the crimes.

The names of the two men were not released.

Photographs of both men will be shown to the victims, said Sgt. Ted Hanson, a member of the task force. Since July 17, four women have been attacked while on jogging trails. Three of the women were raped. A fourth was knocked down and robbed.

The man police are seeking is described as being 25 to 30 years old, about 5 feet, 5 inches tall with black hair. His four front upper teeth are edged in gold, authorities said.

The victims also described their attacker as an unclean, foul-smelling man who wore no shoes or shirt and appeared to be familiar with the brush areas of the park.

Sunday’s police action was the second time a task force has fanned out across the recreation area in search of a suspect. The first task force was sent out Oct. 20, Hanson said, and was larger than the 35-member squad that searched the park area this week.

Hanson said that police would send the task force out again if neither of the two men are booked as suspects in the attacks.

Hanson expressed surprise that with all of the media attention given to the rapes, task force members Sunday morning stopped several women who were jogging alone in the basin area. In each of the attacks, the women were walking or jogging alone.

“One woman we stopped had a dog with her, but this rapist isn’t deterred by dogs,” Hanson said. “One woman who was attacked had a dog with her.”

Police have asked that women who jog or walk in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area be extra cautious and, if possible, to exercise with a partner.