Authorities have arrested a 21-year-old man in Mexico who is accused of committing a string of brutal assaults on women across Los Angeles, dubbing him a “horrible deviant.”
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna named suspect Sergio Andrew Garcia in a press conference Wednesday announcing his capture and arrest, after help from the Mexican government locating Garcia in Tijuana and assisting with his apprehension.
Garcia has been the subject of a police manhunt since early July and has been connected to a number of disturbing assaults, with Luna telling reporters that “everybody whose briefing you [about the assaults] is just so troubled by the information they’re passing on.”
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“Although I thought of many other adjectives to describe this suspect, I’m just going to say that he’s a horrible deviant,” Luna added. “He needed to be off the streets.”
Garcia is facing charges of attempted murder, robbery, assault with intent to commit rape and penetration with a foreign object.
Police first sprung into action on July 15 when a 67-year-old Hispanic woman was assaulted outside her East L.A. home just before 6:13 a.m. Garcia is alleged to have approached the victim from behind and thrown her to the ground while hitting her and attempting to pull down her pants. Minutes after the attack on Martinez, Garcia is accused of assaulting an 84-year-old woman and stealing her car keys in another area of East L.A. Garcia allegedly came back for the car the next morning, before eventually crashing it.
However, authorities say they soon discovered Garcia’s alleged crime spree began before the two July 15 assaults; he is suspected of at least five more attacks between July 10 and July 15, and police believe there may be more victims out there. One victim is a 55-year-old Hispanic woman, while another is a 33-year-old Hispanic woman. One of the women fell unconscious during the attack, police said.
Garcia fled to Mexico shortly after his spree, Luna said, but authorities soon obtained his possible whereabouts in Mexico. He was located on July 25 at approximately 4:30 p.m., arrested without incident and returned to the United States. He was transported to Los Angeles County, where he was booked at the East Los Angeles station.
Bail is currently set at more than $4 million.
“This very troubling individual was out there on a crime spree for a while,” Luna said.
“We believe there may be additional victims. For one reason or another they have chosen maybe not to contact police yet. We encourage you that if are a victim no matter what language you speak…we really really would like to hear from you.”
