Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Arrest Made In Sexual Assault Of Orange County Girl

Two teenage girls in Santa Ana were sexually assaulted by males in separate Santa Ana incidents recently. Police are looking for suspects.

UPDATED at 1:07 pm PST:

ORANGE COUNTY, CA -- An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl who was attacked while walking home from school in Santa Ana late Monday morning.

Santa Ana police say the man is an acquaintance of the teen, despite initial reports that she may have been assaulted by two strangers believed to be transients.

Find out what's happening in Orange Countyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Police say the attack is not related to an earlier break-in, in which a man crawled into bed with a 15-year-old girl and groped her.

This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes known.

Find out what's happening in Orange Countyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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ORIGINAL article:

ORANGE COUNTY, CA -- A 17-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by two men while walking home from summer school in Santa Ana on Monday, and police were working to determine if the attack was related to an earlier break-in by a man who crawled into bed with a 15-year-old girl.

The first attack happened about 12:15 a.m. at a home in the 1000 block of North Lincoln Street, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. An intruder broke into the bedroom of a 15-year-old girl and groped her, prompting her to shout for help from her mother, who rushed to her aid, Bertagna said.

The suspect, who was described as a man in his 20s or 30s who appeared to be ``disheveled and dirty,'' ran off, Bertagna said.

She said she yelled to her mother when the person began groping her.

``I wasn't really scared, I was more shocked, like I didn't know what to think of it or what to say,'' she said. ``It was just -- I don't know.''

She said the man was carrying a backpack and wearing ``black Nike running shoes.''

At 11 a.m., police were called to the 1300 block of East McFaddenAvenue regarding an attack on a 17-year-old girl, Bertagna said. The girl was walking home from summer school at Century High School when two men, who appeared to be transients, sexually assaulted her, Bertagna said.

The two suspects were described as men in the 20s or 30s, Bertagna said.

Both crimes occurred near railroad tracks, which have drawn transients who camp out on the federal property, so police were looking into whether one of the suspects may have been involved in both attacks, Bertagna said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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