COMPTON – An ex-convict has been arrested in connection with an alleged attack on a woman who was found injured near a dirt trail adjacent to the Compton city wash.
Daniel Larry Fernandez III, 37, of Compton, pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of kidnapping to commit another crime, assault with intent to commit a felony and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury involving the alleged March 5 attack.
Fernandez is also charged with one count each of second-degree robbery involving a separate alleged victim, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury involving a third alleged victim and resisting an executive officer — all allegedly occurring March 24.
The criminal complaint alleges that Fernandez has a 2005 conviction for voluntary manslaughter.
Detectives from the sheriff’s Transportation Services Bureau alerted investigators from the Special Victims Bureau March 24 that a man who had been arrested in connection with an unrelated assault closely resembled the suspect shown in the March 5 surveillance footage from the Compton area, and detectives found additional evidence and identified him as the suspect in the alleged attack on the woman, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the 200 block of South Matthisen Avenue in Compton regarding a call of an injured person, and found the woman partially undressed and with injuries to her head and face on March 5, according to the sheriff’s department.
The woman told deputies that she was assaulted by a man near the Metro A (Blue) Line Compton Station, forced into a white compact car, driven to an area near the Compton city wash and assaulted again, according to the sheriff’s department.
Detectives from the sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau subsequently obtained surveillance footage showing the suspect and circulated the images to sheriff’s stations within the immediate vicinity, according to the sheriff’s department.
Fernandez has remained behind bars since his arrest March 24 by the sheriff’s department, jail records show.
Sheriff’s detectives believe the suspect “may have been involved in similar incidents within Los Angeles County,” according to the statement from the sheriff’s department.
Anyone who has information regarding the investigation or anyone who may have been an alleged victim of the suspect was asked to contact the Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-5273 or by email at [email protected].