UPDATE: New Sketch of Man Wanted in Attacks on Three Women in Walnut Creek Apartment Complex

UPDATE Thursday: Contra Costa County Sheriff's officials released a sketch of the man who attacked a woman Tuesday morning in the Park Regency complex on Oak Road in unincorporated Walnut Creek. Detectives now believe the same man is responsible for all three Park Regency attacks since June 30, one in which a woman was raped.

TUESDAY EVENING:  Detectives are looking for a man they believe is preying on young women in the Park Regency apartment complex, attacking one and raping another several weeks ago and attacking a third Tuesday morning as she was asleep in her apartment.

The 25-year-old woman attacked Tuesday morning is the third victim in the last six weeks at the 892-unit complex on Oak Road, in an unincorporated area north of the Pleasant Hill BART station and just off Interstate 680. 

The woman woke up at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in her third-floor apartment to find a man with his hand over her mouth, telling her to not to scream, said Contra Costa County Sheriff's Spokesman Jimmy Lee. The man threatened the woman, but she struggled and was able to get free. The woman's mother told the Contra Costa Times that her daughter had a can of pepper spray within reach and "emptied it into his face."

The man ran off. 

Contra Costa County Sheriff's investigators believe the same man may be responsible for two previous attacks. Early in the morning June 30, a man burst his way into a woman's apartment and grabbed her. On July 6, a 23-year-old woman woke up in her apartment to find a man attacking her. She was raped.  

In all three cases, the suspect is described as an African American male, about 6 feet 2 inches. In all three cases he was also wearing dark clothing. In the most recent case, he was sporting facial hair and a dark hooded sweatshirt. The victims in the previous two cases said he was between 20 and 30 years. old. 

On Tuesday morning, a large number of Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputies, including a K9 officer, responded to the Park Regency, which has a French Chateau look and rises four stories high above an underground parking garage. They searched unsuccessfully for the assailant.

Investigators do not know how the man entered the woman's apartment, because she said her front door was locked at the time. 

The management of Park Regency did not respond to a request for an interview, but an office worker in the leasing office shared a notice that had been issued to residents Tuesday, telling them that "another incident has been reported where a young female was attacked by a young black male."

The notice reminded residents to be "vigilant at all times, lock doors and windows ... and don't open your doors to strangers that may knock."

Residents were startled and upset after hearing about the latest attack in their complex, which features park-like courtyards with streams and a swimming pool where residents and their kids were playing Tuesday afternoon.

"I've been here 18 years, and we've never had anything like this happen in all that time," said Marla Samuel, who shares an apartment with her parents and a small, but "loud" dog. She said she was going out to buy a new chain lock at Target, and she would no longer allow her mother to take the dog outside for a walk at 10 p.m. 

She echoed the views of other residents interviewed by Walnut Creek Patch after the July 6 attack, saying that the Park Regency was like a small city where longtime residents grew to be close friends and sometimes like family.  Residents said the complex has a mix of families, young singles and older people. It also has low-income housing units. "I feel like our territory is being invaded," Samuel said.

Cassi Ollar, 22, said she was happy to move into a studio unit in the Park Regency two months ago. It was close to work, she already had friends living there, and it was affordable, compared with other apartments in the area. But news of the rape and this latest attack was unsettling. "It's horrible, scary," she said. 

Ollar and her boyfriend, Joel Lieser, were leaving to go buy a new lock for her second-floor studio. Ollar said she is worried that there is no locked barrier between Oak Road and her front door.

The Park Regency is located right across Oak Road from an entrance and exit to Interstate 680. It sprawls behind a strip mall that houses a 7-Eleven store and a Subway Sandwich Restaurant. There is a gate leading into the Park Regency, but it only closes at night to motor vehicles. Pedestrians can pass freely in and out of the complex on walkways on either side of the car entrance.

Residents have reported mixed views about whether Park Regency management was doing enough to inform residents about the attacks and ensure their safety. 

Residents, interviewed after the July 6 rape, said management did not tell them that a woman had been attacked in her apartment. The notice they received then  just advised residents to keep their valuables in their cars out of plain sight, to keep their doors locked, and to not open their doors to strangers.

On the other hand, Samuel and Ollar said Tuesday that management had, since the July 6 attack, hired private security, with a guard posted at the front entrance during the day and at night. "Not sure it's doing much good," Lieser said.

In the first attack, June 30, a man knocked on the front door of an apartment at about 1:15 a.m. and asked the woman inside for a glass of water. When the woman went to get the water, the man covered her mouth with his hand. 

The woman was able to push the man away and call out for her boyfriend, which prompted the assailant to flee the apartment. 

The July 6 rape occurred sometime during the day while the female resident was home alone and her front door was unlocked. The victim was sleeping and woke to find her assailant in the bedroom. After attacking the woman, the man fled the apartment. 

The Sheriff's Department once again reminded people to always lock their doors and windows, not to open doors for strangers and call police if they see anyone suspicious.  

Detectives are also asking anyone with information about these incidents to call them at (925) 313-2625.