Serial rapist community meeting
On the evening of March 28th, a Public Safety Community Meeting was held at the Waterfront Plaza Hotel. Councilmember Nancy Nadel, Lt. Paul Berlin and Eric Karsseboom from the Oakland Police Department (OPD) as well as Marsha Blackstock from the Bay Area Women Against Rape and a representitive from Highland Sexual Assaul Center gathered to discuss a series of rapes in the Chinatown, Jack London, and West Oakland area. The meeting was covered by all local media outlets including KRON 11, KTVU Channel 2, ABC 7, and Noticero T48 with coverage on all the evening news broadcasts.

At the start of the meeting Officer Karsseboom reviewed the case history. He stated that there were three incidences of sexual assault and robbery within the last 6 months:

• On September 23, 2004 (Thursday) around noon by the Posey Tube at Fifth and Harrison. The victim was walking back to her car after shopping at Chinatown.
• On December 18, 2004 (Saturday) around 4:45pm by the West Oakland BART at 5th and Union Street. The victim was walking from Jack London Square to West Oakland.
• On February 19, 2005 (Saturday) around 2:30pm by the Posey Tube at Fifth and Harrison. The victim was walking back to her car from Chinatown.

All three victims were attacked from behind, assaulted and robbed. The suspect as described by the victims is a Hispanic man in his 20s to 30s, with dark complexion, black curly or wavy hair, between 5'-3" and 5'-5" tall, has a Spanish accent and speaks broken English. Distinguishing features include a multi-colored tattoo (subject unknown) on his left shoulder and a smaller one on his left or possibly right forearm. No weapons were reportedly used by the suspect.


The victims were between the ages of 40 and 50; and weighed between 150-230 pounds. One woman was Chinese, the other two were Caucasian. The first two cases were linked via DNA evidence. The second two cases were link by physical description and MO.

Based on current evidence, the OPD suspects the attacker prefers "noisy" areas i.e. near a freeway, the tube, BART, and targets women during the hours of 11am to 5pm. However, there is no guarantee that the next attack will fall into this pattern. Although all the victims were robbed, money does not seem to be his motive. The suspect has not used any of the stolen credit cards. One of the victim's personal belongings were found by the Marina Village in Alameda. The OPD is examining these for fingerprints.

Oakland police activities to date include: saturation of the area with both uniformed and undercover police officers, use of video recorders by the Posey tube, community awareness meetings in the Chinatown district with translators present and a review of all attempted assaults reported to see if there is a connection.

If you have any information regarding these cases, please contact the Oakland Police Department at 238.7910 or Crimestoppers at 238.6946.

Here are some specific safety tips as you are walking around the neighborhood:

• Draw an imaginary circle around you that represents your personal boundaries, and force yourself to notice anyone who enters that circle.
• Make polite but firm eye contact with those people walking near you to acknowledge their presence.
• Trust your instincts: if someone or something doesn't look right, figure out an alternate route or head to a safe place.
• The most important asset you have is your mind. Do not rely on just one means of defense. Think through the various options at your disposal should you find yourself in a dangerous situation (your voice, a whistle, cell phone, keys etc).
• Recognize that weapons you carry (whether pepper spray, or firearms) can also be used against you, and decide accordingly.
• If you have a cell phone, program the Oakland Police Department into it instead of 911. 510.777.3211. This could save you precious time as 911 calls from cell phones are handled by CHP, not locally.
  
• Avoid wearing headphones, or talking on cell phones while walking - such devices lessen your ability to hear someone coming up from behind you and may single you out as an easy target.
  

Remember, ultimately, the goal is not just to protect yourself against this ONE guy. The goal is to protect yourself in EVERY situation.

More information:

Impact Bay Area (self defense classes), www.impactbayarea.org
Bay Area Women Against Rape, 510.845.7273 (24 hr crisis line), 510.430.1298 (office)
Councilmember Nancy Nadel, www.nancynadel.org

-- Story contributed by Phil Ting, Sierra Lofts.
Posted 3/28/2005