Police: Santa Cruz woman raped, beaten in her West Cliff Drive home
SANTA CRUZ -- A woman was bound, gagged, struck and raped by a man who came into her West Cliff Drive home before dawn Wednesday, police said.
The 69-year-old victim was able to free herself and seek help at a friend's home, police said. She was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for facial injuries and was listed in stable condition. She was accompanied by several support personnel, including a detective and a victim advocate, police spokesman Zach Friend said.
The woman was asleep when the rapist entered her home through an unlocked door between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. The rape was reported about 7:20 a.m., after the woman was able to free herself, authorities said. She described the assailant as a white man in his 20s who wore a ski mask and dark clothing. He was about 5 feet 9 inches with a medium build.
Police said late Wednesday they have few leads in the assault, but had sent evidence to a state crime lab on an expedited basis.
"We rarely see cases that are this horrific," Friend said. "It's just unconscionable that someone could enter a woman's home and assault her in this way."
Police will increase patrols in the area, he said.
Detectives don't believe the attack is related to other recent sexual assaults in the city, including one last year at a harbor coffee shop, he added, but they were still reviewing related cases in other jurisdictions in the county.
Nothing appeared to be have been taken from the home, he said, which is somewhat tucked away in a mobile home court, and investigators were trying to determine if the attack was random or if the perpetrator was familiar with the area or the victim, Friend said.
"It appears he came in with duct tape and some kind of binding material, so there are premeditation elements," he said. "It's just so disturbing and sick."
While Santa Cruz police logged 19 cases of forcible rape last year, and several cases of men groping or touching women in a sexual manner, such an attack is rare, Friend and others said.
Police early Wednesday canvassed the area near the victim's home, the Clearview Court mobile home park at Bay Street. No witnesses were immediately found and it was unclear how or where the assailant had fled.
Detectives went door-to-door through the park, a close-knit community of all ages in more than 60 homes tucked behind motels just up West Cliff Drive from the wharf. A few concerned neighbors wandered between homes Wednesday morning, coffee cups in hand, to talk with one another and police officers about the attack.
Jeff Mick, who's lived in the neighborhood for more than 25 years, said the area is usually quiet. The crime-scene tape he woke up to Wednesday morning came as a surprise.
"The police came and asked me questions, but they wouldn't tell me anything," Mick said.
The violence worried truck driver Mark Abelar, who lives near the home where the attack occurred. Abelar said he has a 15-year-old daughter and wants to make sure she's safe.
"I was real concerned," he said, adding he makes sure to lock his doors.
Abelar said before the attack, he had asked police to patrol the mobile home park more, even just drive through once during the early-morning hours. There was a rash of car burglaries earlier this month, he said.
Later Wednesday, fliers about the attack were posted with help from the city's Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women.
The commission's coordinator, Kathryn Agnone, said she posted notices at motels and public spots nearby.
There was some concern the fliers might negatively affect area motel guests, she said, but she got a "very good response."
"It doesn't mean you can't go out after dark; it's not to increase fear," she said.
She also hoped the fliers would spark someone to realize they had seen something related and prompt them to report it, Agnone said.
"These are the ones which are truly frightening to folks, and not as common," she said. "We can see that there are more cases locally of sexual batteries by strangers [more akin to inappropriate touches or groping], but statistically, more people are assaulted by someone they know."
Agnone advised people not to blame or question the victim's actions in any way and to build skills to handle similar situations, perhaps by taking a low-cost defense class for women offered through the city.
Women's Crisis Support-Defense de Mujeres offers services to sexual assault victims; call 685-3737.
Officers asked that anyone with information on the crime call 420-5820, or the anonymous tip line at 420-5995.
