Man jailed in rapes shaking `safest city'
Man jailed in rapes shaking `safest city'
Suspect's bail: $1 million
BY PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 09/13/2007 11:20:02 PM PDT
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ADRIAN ARRIANO
SANTA CLARITA - Two women raped at knifepoint in their homes in the dark of night stood by Thursday as sheriff's deputies announced they had arrested a man in the attacks that sent jitters through this city, long considered one of America's safest.
Adrian Arriano, 29, twice deported to his native Mexico, was arrested about 4:45 a.m. Monday, identified as a prowler who had tried moments earlier to break into a Newhall woman's apartment.
"We believe she could have been the next victim," sheriff's Capt. Anthony La Berge said at a news conference.
Arriano's knowledge of confidential details about the rapes in January and March and about a related case in June, when a woman fought off her attacker, was key in linking him to the crimes, La Berge said. DNA and other evidence is being processed, with results due in two weeks.
Arriano - also known as Andres Gomez - was formally charged Wednesday with a single count of burglary, pending further investigation, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. His bail was increased from $50,000 to $1 million, with his arraignment set for Sept. 26.
On Thursday, all three women spoke briefly to reporters.
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"Thank you so much to the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department for their persistence for arresting and detaining this man so this will never happen again," one said.
Another thanked Detective John Gill and "the team that was so diligent in making this arrest happen. Hopefully, it's the start of a new chapter for me."
The third, a woman who lived in the same area of Canyon Country as the two rape victims, apologized for publicly criticizing deputies in July when they refused to immediately release a composite sketch of the assailant she fought off after he broke into her home.
The drawing was circulated to patrol deputies but not to the public because some leads were being followed and police didn't want their suspect to see it and "go underground," La Berge said.
All three women are willing to testify should the case against Arriano go to trial, Gill said.
Arriano was identified by the East Newhall woman as the man who tried early Monday to pry open a window to her second-story condominium, said sheriff's Deputy Stephanie Shrout, who spotted the suspect riding a bike and arrested him. Shrout was with several deputies who responded to the "hot prowl" call.
Deputies had been hunting for the Canyon Country rapist and saw that Arriano fit the suspect's description, Shrout said.
"A lot of people worked hard to piece this puzzle together," she said. "I live in this community, and it's an incredible feeling to help the people of your own community."
Gill showed relief Thursday. As lead investigator, he talked - sometimes daily - with the victims to keep them posted and let them vent. He gave them his personal cell-phone number and took their calls both on and off duty.
"You do take it personally," Gill said. "I do feel like I've had an anvil lifted from my chest."
On Jan. 6, a 20-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her Canyon Country apartment by a man in a hooded sweat shirt who came in through an unlocked window and threatened her with a knife.
On March 29, a woman in her 40s was asleep when a man similarly clad entered through the kitchen window, climbed onto her bed, put a knife to her neck and assaulted her, the report said.
The second attack prompted sheriff's officials to warn residents to lock their windows.
The third woman told deputies she awakened about 3 a.m. June 26 to see a man's hands coming down over her face. The man held a knife and said, "Shut up, shut up; don't scream," she said in an earlier interview.
But the woman shouted and fought, and the man fled.
pat.aidem@dailynews.com
