Man Held in Alleged Abduction, Rape of 3

A 24-year-old Lynwood man was in custody Friday for allegedly kidnapping three young women--including his ex-girlfriend--and repeatedly beating and raping them throughout the past month, police said.

Authorities chased Carlos Velasquez from Monrovia to a relative’s home in Lynwood on Thursday night after one of the alleged victims, 16, escaped from the Monrovia house where she was being held and called police.

Monrovia Police Det. John Abbott said the three women were not bound but were terrorized, beaten, raped and possibly drugged by Velasquez.

“They were very frightened of him, and they were afraid to try and get away,” Abbott said.

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Monrovia police said much of the case remains unclear. Investigators are trying to determine whether the alleged victims were held elsewhere and moved to the Monrovia house this week, and how and why Velasquez kidnapped the three, ages 23, 17 and 16, who live in Lynwood and Bellflower.

One of them, Monrovia Police Chief Joe Santoro said, is a former girlfriend of Velasquez.

The single-story white house where the two girls and one woman were found Thursday night is in the 900 block of East Lemon Avenue in a quiet middle-class neighborhood. Police said the house is owned by relatives of Velasquez, but neighbors said the owners have been out of town for three weeks.

A neighbor said he noticed that the windows had been jammed shut with rolling pins for the past few weeks, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that he observed a new car in the driveway or heard people’s voices.

Thursday afternoon, the neighbor said, he heard loud music and young male voices coming from next door. “Then I heard a girl’s voice say, ‘Don’t do that!’ and that was all I heard. It wasn’t that loud, or a scream.”

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About 7:30 p.m., police said, the 16-year-old girl slipped out of the house, ran to a nearby home and called police. As officers pulled up, two cars drove off. One stopped when police flagged it down--it contained two acquaintances of Velasquez who were questioned and released, police said.

The other car, a white BMW driven by Velasquez, raced past police cars to Lynwood at speeds up to about 120 mph, with Monrovia police and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopter in pursuit, Santoro said. In Lynwood, Velasquez hid in another relative’s house, but police and sheriff’s deputies encircled the home and Velasquez surrendered, Santoro said.

Velasquez was held at the Monrovia jail without bail. Authorities said a bench warrant had been issued for him after he failed to appear in court on charges of impersonation and obstructing an officer with his duties stemming from a May narcotics arrest in Monrovia.

Police and witnesses said the woman and two girls were bruised and sobbing when released from the house but did not require immediate medical treatment.

The chief said police will continue their investigation, which he expected to be long and complex.