Korea Town Rapist Arrested

Los Angeles: A man has been arrested in a series of sexual assaults and robberies occurring in the Korea Town area over the last year.
In the early morning hours of Friday, July 29, 2005, officers assigned to the Korea Town Rapist Task Force arrested Tyreese Lamar Reed in connection with a series of sexual assaults and robberies.  Reed, a 29-year-old male Black, resides in the Korea Town area and works as an electronics technician.  He was arrested at his residence.  Reed is currently being held without bail at Parker Center Jail.
As of this morning, the District Attorney’s office has filed 18 counts of Sexual Assault and Robbery, which carry a possible maximum sentence of 6 consecutive life terms, with a minimum of 150 years in prison.  Additional filings are possible.
At the time of his arrest, undercover officers observed Reed driving a green Honda in the vicinity of some of the crimes.  Reed appeared to match the description given by several victims.  Officers Alex Ronquillo and Shawn Havican, both on loan from Hollywood Area, began to watch Reed, who eventually noticed their presence and approached the officers.  He confronted them and told the officers he was a parole agent working in the area.  He displayed what appeared to be a small badge.  Reed drove off and was followed by officers to his residence, a multi-story apartment building near Hobart and Sixth Streets.
When the officers attempted to stop him, Reed ran inside the apartment building. Officers saw Reed run upstairs.  Responding task force personnel surrounded the building.  Reed returned to the ground floor minutes later.  A search of the building located a Beretta Model 92F handgun with a laser sight, similar to the weapon victims had described.  The badge displayed by Reed, located on the roof, turned out to be a hat piece from the California Department of Corrections.  Reed was taken into custody without incident.
Over the weekend criminalists from LAPD’s Scientific Investigation Division completed an analysis of DNA evidence taken from Mr. Reed and linked it to evidence from the sexual assaults. Six crimes are linked by DNA evidence, including the Beverly Hills occurrence.
The Korea Town rape series consisted of 13 sexual assaults and robberies.  The crime series began on August 26, 2004, with the rape and robbery of a 37-year-old Korean female in her apartment in the Wilshire Area.  The most recent crime occurred June 15, 2005, a robbery of a 37-year-old Korean female at her apartment building also in Wilshire Area.