Police searching for rape suspect A woman...

Police searching for rape suspect

A woman was raped at gunpoint in the laundry room of her

Huntington Harbour apartment building Monday morning.

The 24-year-old woman was washing her clothes at around 10 a.m.

when a man with a semi-automatic pistol confronted her, ordered her

into a stairwell and raped her, police said. He also stole an

unidentified amount of cash.

The attack took place in a laundry room of the Harbour Lights

apartments, in the 4300 block of Boardwalk Drive, in Northwest

Huntington Beach.

The rapist was described as white, 5-foot-10, about 170 pounds and

in his mid-20s. He was reportedly wearing a dark color watchcap, a

short-sleeve red shirt and blue jeans. He had a dark brown mustache

and goatee.

Police released a composite sketch of the man on Tuesday.

“This is the most updated information with regards to the

suspect,” Huntington Beach Police Lt. Janet Perez said.

Police consider the suspect armed and dangerous. Call police with

information at (714) 375-5066.

Man gets death for 1999 rape, murder

A 24-year-old man was sentenced on Monday to death by lethal

injection for the 1999 rape and murder of a 29-year-old Huntington

Beach woman.

Victor Miranda-Guerrero was convicted in April of raping and

murdering Bridgette Ballas on Nov. 27, 1999. The death sentence was

imposed Monday by Judge Francisco P. Briseno at a jury’s

recommendation.

Ballas was attacked at about 1:30 a.m. while walking home after a

night out with her friends.

The 29-year-old Calvin Klein account executive was discovered by

police lying unconscious by the curb at 6:30 a.m. in the 900 block of

Huntington Street, police said. She died two days later.

In 1999, the city offered a $25,000 reward for information leading

to an arrest. It wasn’t until Miranda-Guerrero was arrested months

later on suspicion of attacking five women Downtown that police

connected him to the murder.

The Huntington Beach resident had worked as a cook at several

local restaurants.

Miranda-Guerrero was also convicted Monday of sexually assaulting

two other women and attempted carjackings in 1999 and 2000.

Huntington men assaulted

Two Huntington Beach residents were assaulted outside their

Downtown home on Saturday.

Anthony Ouren, 37, was watering his plants in front of his home on

7th Street when two men started beating on his mailbox, Ouren said.

As he yelled at them to stop, his roommate, Robert Mull, 50, ran

outside to see what was happening and was struck to the ground, Ouren

said.

Ouren was also struck across the face and knocked unconscious.

“I don’t know what hit me,” Ouren said. “I blacked out and woke up

covered in blood.”

Ouren suffered a broken nose, shattered orbital and sinus bones,

fractures under each eye, chipped teeth, bruising and two black eyes.

Mull’s injuries were minor.

The men were described by Ouren as thin-set, in their 20s and

reeking of alcohol. One was tall and blond. The other was shorter,

with died black hair and wearing a baseball cap sideways.

“When alcohol’s involved, fights like this are relatively common,”

Huntington Beach Police Lt. Janet Perez said. “Every week, we see a

few of them.”

Officers responded to the incident at 8:30 p.m., took the

descriptions and searched for suspects, but were unable to find any.