MISSION VIEJO : Woman Leaps From Car to Avoid Rape

A 19-year-old Mission Viejo woman was nearly raped at gunpoint Saturday night when she accepted a ride from a stranger after becoming separated from a friend at Melinda Road and Heather Glen, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

The woman told authorities that when she got into the car, the driver pointed a handgun at her and threatened her. At that point, she said, she was able to jump out of the car and run to a nearby gated community guard station, where she asked for help, Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson said.

She was not injured in the 4:45 a.m. incident. The assailant was described only as white, heavy set, with dark brown hair, Olson said.

Authorities say the attempted rape does not appear to be related to a series of three rapes earlier this summer in the city because of a difference in suspect descriptions and the incidents’ nature.

In the earlier cases, two women and one teen-age girl were grabbed from behind and pulled from the sidewalk as they either jogged or walked by, authorities said.