A man has been arrested on suspicion of breaking in to a Culver City home last month and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, police said.
Marcos Maldonado, 35, was on a bus headed to Bakersfield when it was stopped by police and he was arrested Thursday, according to the Culver City Police Department. Police identified Maldonado through DNA evidence.
Maldonado was booked on suspicion of felony aggravated sexual assault of a child and is being held on $1.25 million bail, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail records show.
On the morning of Dec. 2 , Culver City police responded to a call of a sexual assault in the Blair Hills neighborhood. Investigators said that Maldonado allegedly entered the child’s home around 2 a.m. and left around 7 a.m. The family reported the crime a short time later, police said.
Officers immediately canvassed the surrounding area for witnesses and additional evidence, recovering video surveillance footage that showed the suspect leaving the area. At the time, investigators released images from that video.
“From the day that this crime occurred, detectives have worked tirelessly to identify and locate the involved suspect,” Jennifer Atenza, a department spokeswoman, said in a news release.
Culver City police collaborated with the UCLA Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center and the Los Angeles district attorney’s office throughout the investigation and will continue to do so for the filing and prosecution of this case, authorities said.
The police department has not received any reports of Maldonado’s connection to additional crimes in the Culver City area. The department said it will continue collaborating with other law enforcement agencies to identify any potential additional victims.
Anthony De Leon
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