Kerry Trotter: Bus Rape Of Teen In Culver City Sees Suspect's Arrest
An arrest has been made in the shocking rape of a teenager on a Metro bus in Culver City this week.
Details of the arrest were expected to be announced shortly, a sheriff's official told the Weekly.
The attack happened Wednesday about 5:10 p.m., according to a sheriff's statement. The 18-year-old victim ...
... has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old, deputies said.
The rape went on for 10 minutes and a witness, the only other rider on the La Cienega Expo Line bus, tried to get the driver's attention, to no avail, says the department.
After it was over and the suspect got off the bus at Sepulveda Boulevard and Slauson Avenue, the teen told the driver.
It started after both the suspect and the victim got on the bus at at La Cienega and Jefferson boulevards, officials said. The bus was running as line 217, route 11.
The suspect, cops said, was captured on security video.
LASD
[Update at 3:23 p.m.]: Marc Littman, director public relations at Metro, says officials have backed off the contention that a witness had tried to notify the driver to no avail.
He says he reviewed the security video three times and couldn't see anyone try to notify the bus operator and that, likewise, a high ranking sheriff's official was brought in to view it and came to a similar conclusion.
A handful of people were on the bus, but it could have appeared that the victim and suspect were "together" because they came on the bus at the same time, Littman said. Looking at the video, he said, ...
... you couldn't really tell a violent act was taking place.
The teenager went to the driver and reported an attack, Littman said.
A sheriff's official told the Weekly that details about the arrest would be released shortly.
@mpLASD A press conference today about the arrest.
[Update at 3:31 p.m.]: Sheriff's officials this afternoon identified the suspect as Kerry Trotter, a man they say has an "extensive" record that includes allegations of sexual assault.
Deputies said they received a tip about the suspect at 11:15 p.m. last night and arrested Trotter at a residence in the 1400 Block of West 99th Street in South Los Angeles.
According to a sheriff's statement:
An interview of the suspect was conducted, followed by a search of the location where the suspect was residing, which provided additional evidence to support the allegations.
Trotter was booked on suspicion of rape and was jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to sheriff's inmate data he's 20-years-old. The arrest was reported at 6:30 a.m. today and he was booked about three hours later.
He was expected to appear in LAX municipal court Wednesday.
A man with the same name and birth date was arrested June 13 by L.A. sheriff's Transit Services Bureau rail patrol deputies and was ultimately put on probation for unknown allegations, according to the inmate data.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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