Arrest made in sexual assault of 12-year-old girl during break-in at Culver City home
CULVER CITY, Calif. (KABC) -- A man has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a family's home in the Blair Hills area of Culver City in December and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, police announced Friday.
Marcos Maldonado, 35, was on a bus that was on the 5 Freeway and heading to Bakersfield when he taken into custody on Thursday, Culver City Police Chief Jason Sims said at a morning news conference.
Maldonado was booked on suspicion of sexual assault and was being held on $1.2 million bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department jail records.
"From the day that this crime occurred, Culver City Police Department detectives have worked diligently to locate the involved suspect in this case," Sims said, adding that DNA evidence helped identify Maldonado as the suspect.
Officers responded around 7:45 a.m. Dec. 2 to the home on a report of a sexual assault that occurred between 2 and 3 a.m. The suspect had remained in the home until about 7 a.m., investigators said.
The victim's parents said that their daughter waited several hours until she felt safe enough to get help.
"He did tell her that there was a shooter at her window, so I think in her mind she really thought she was doing the best for her family," the mother told Eyewitness back in December.
Responding officers canvassed the area for evidence but were unable to locate the suspect. Investigators did obtain surveillance video from the area showing the suspect leaving the area after the assault.
Investigators released images from that footage at the time, as well as Maldonado's booking photo after he was arrested.
Investigators say they are not aware of any other possible victims, but now that his identity has been released they ask anyone who has information about the suspect to come forward.
City News Service contributed to this report.
