Amber Willard
LA CRESCENTA -- A man accused in the rape of a La Crescenta woman is
facing additional assault charges after officials said they matched his
DNA in two other cases.
Clifton Hutchins, 34, was arrested by Glendale Police last week and
authorities suspect he assaulted women, or tried to assault them, in
surrounding areas.
"We also believe he acted in parts of Los Angeles and the La Canada
Flintridge and La Crescenta areas," L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca said
Tuesday at a press conference.
Glendale officials said no other possibly related rapes have been
reported to them, but an attempted burglary that was reported to
sheriff's officials in La Crescenta is under investigation.
"If it was him, he was chased away," Glendale Police Investigator
Tahnee Lightfoot said of Hutchins. A rape that occurred in Los Angeles is
under investigation by officials there as possibly connected to the local
cases, she said.
The two other cases in which DNA was matched to Hutchins occurred in
Pasadena, officials said. Each attack happened late at night at homes
that were within one mile north of the Foothill (210 Freeway, Lightfoot
said. Each victim was home alone.
Hutchins was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Pasadena, but it was
delayed until next month.
Although his registered address is in Altadena, authorities said
Hutchins had been living with his girlfriend in Tujunga. Glendale
investigators said they initially linked Hutchins to the crimes through
his girlfriend's car, which was spotted in the area of a prowling report
a few blocks from the La Crescenta rape.
Hutchins' DNA is being compared to physical evidence in county and
state databases to see if any additional matches can be found, police
said.
Hutchins worked for a pager business in Ontario, but there is no link
between that company and his alleged victims, officials said.
"We're trying to figure out how he identified each victim," Lightfoot
said.
