Crime & Safety

Park Regency Increases Security After Fifth Attack, but It Might Be Too Late for Some Tenants

Guard will check everyone entering the complex to make sure the person is a resident or a guest of one. An attorney specializing in landlord/tenant issues says landlords are required to provide a safe environment for residents.

The management at the Park Regency complex in unincorporated Walnut Creek has said it is increasing security after an attempted rape Saturday — the fifth attack on a female resident at the 892-unit complex in the last three months. 

A 43-year-old woman told Contra Costa Sheriff's investigators that she fought off a man who grabbed her from behind Saturday as she was leaving her apartment. She said the man tried to force her back into her apartment. The woman fell down some steps as she was fending off the man and was injured seriously enough to be taken by ambulance to a hospital. 

The assailant is  described as a white male, 5 foot 8 to 5 foot 9 inches tall, with a medium build and facial hair. He was wearing black jeans, a black T-shirt and a black baseball cap. 

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At the time of this attack, the company had a security guard posted at the front entrance of the Oak Road complex. The entrance is across Oak Road from Interstate 680, and a few blocks north of the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART station. 

 A gate at the entrance spans the driveway, and closes and locks in the evening, according to residents. But there are no gates across the pedestrian walkways on either side of the driveway. Residents say the guard was posted after the third attack on Aug. 10. 

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Park Regency Administrative Assistant Mohammad Abid told Bay City News on Monday that the guard will check all who enter the complex to make sure they are a resident or a guest of a resident.

Abid said another guard patrols inside the complex 24 hours a day and that crews are working to install a fence at the front of the property as well as additional security cameras. 

These measures may be too little too late for some residents, who say they have given notice or are thinking of doing so.

"I am actually moving," said Amy Villasenor. "I gave my 30-day notice this morning. I really hold the management responsible because they have not arranged to keep the gate closed with the guard."

"After the fourth sexual assault," Villasenor added, "I was told by management that they were working on closing up the front gate. I have seen nothing to date so far that they have actually done anything. After the fourth assault, I went to them and I asked them if I could be please be excused from the $3,000 plus dollars that they want to charge me to break my lease, I wrote them a letter and I was verbally told 'No.' Today, I decided they could take me to small claims court if they want to. I'm moving for my own safety. I'm a single woman and I'm afraid. I don't think they took appropriate steps."

David Levin, a staff attorney for Bay Area Legal Aid, urges tenants such as Villasenor  to seek legal advice.

Levin, who specializes in landlord/tenant disputes, said the principle of California law and case law is that tenants have a right to livable circumstances. That definition includes the right to live in  a structurally and seismically sound dwelling with heat, running water and electricity. The definition also implies a measure of security, Levin said. "But what the landlord is required to do can be complicated," he added.

A 1981 California Court of Appeals ruling, arising from the case of a woman who was raped in the dimly lit lobby of an apartment complex, also said that landlords must protect tenants from foreseeable criminal activity.

The "implied warrant of habitability" lies in Section 1941 of the California Civil Code, Levin said. 

For Park Regency tenants wanting out of their leases, Levin says whether they can  be released without penalty depends on what the lease says, including its fine print. Levin said a lease is a "promise" between a landlord and tenant. 

You can contact the Bay Area Legal Aid advice line at 925-219-3325. Bay Area Legal Aid generally works with low-income people. Levin also says that the Contra Costa Bar Association also has an attorney-referral service, and attorneys who can offer low-cost legal consultation, 925-825-5700.

As of Monday, sheriff's detectives were looking into whether this attack is connected to the previous attack, Sept. 16, in which a woman was sexually assaulted.

Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee had said previously that the Sept. 16 sexual assault was not connected to three assaults at the Park Regency between June 30 and Aug. 10. 

He said the suspect in the first three attacks is in custody and has been charged with those assaults. Authorities say DNA evidence ties Antonio Andre Mouton, an African-American man from Berkeley, to one of those cases, the July 6 rape of a woman who was attacked after being awakened as she slept alone in her unlocked apartment.

In the other two cases, June 30 and Aug. 10, an African-American male forced his way into young women's apartments and accosted them, but they frightened him off. 

Mouton has pleaded not guilty to one count of forcible rape, two counts of attempted forcible rape and three counts of residential burglary.

Anyone with any information on the rape Sept. 16 and Saturday night's attack is asked to call the office of the Sheriff at 925-646-2441.

Bay City News contributed to this story. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.