The Los Angeles Police Department is searching for a man who sexually assaulted a woman on an LA Metro bus earlier this month in East Hollywood.
It happened on April 12 around 9:55 p.m., according to an LAPD news release issued Monday.
The bus was traveling in East Hollywood near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenue when a man boarded and took a seat behind a 33-year-old woman.
Police say the man began talking to the woman before brandishing a knife and demanding money. She told him she didn’t have any, which led to him sexually assaulting her for “several minutes.”
The bus eventually stopped at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Figueroa Street, at which point the suspect exited and disappeared on foot. Police said he was heading south toward 40th Place.
An investigation has been launched, and police are asking for the public’s help to identify the man, who was captured on the bus’s surveillance camera.
He’s described as a Hispanic man in his 20s who is about 5 feet 5 inches tall. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a white t-shirt with Qatar Airways written across the chest – possibly a Paris Saint-Germain soccer jersey.
He was also wearing dark pants, black headphones and carrying a dark-colored backpack.
Detectives believe there may be additional victims who were sexually assaulted by this man, and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Any potential victims or witnesses can contact detectives with the LAPD Southwest sex crimes division at 323-290-2976. Anonymous tips can be provided online or by calling 800-222-8477.
