A South Lake Tahoe man is behind bars after being identified as a possible suspect in at least one of the recent assault crimes in the community.
Oscar Raygoza Huerta, 23 of South Lake Tahoe, was arrested on Friday, August 5 on charges of assault intent to commit mayhem or rape, a felony. He is currently in the El Dorado County jail on a $100,000 bail hold.
Last week, South Lake Tahoe Police detectives released sketches of the suspect created after interviews with two of the victims. Leads from those photos led to the arrest.
“To have these victims recollect what had happened in detail especially in an assault case where it’s very traumatic for the subjects, but they were able to pull through and focus in on one suspect so far,” said Sgt. Travis Cabral of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.
A female visitor staying at Lakeland Village on July 25 was attacked while doing laundry. A man dragged her into a closet where he tried to sexually assault her.
“The victim was able to fight back and get away and report him to law enforcement,” said Cabral.
Over the past year, the South Lake Tahoe Police Department has received at least two other such reports and believe they may be related due to similarities in the subject’s description and method of operation.
In October, 2015, similar incident was reported. A woman was walking on Park Avenue when she was approached by a Hispanic male on a bicycle. The Hispanic male told the female victim that he had a gun, and told the victim to come with him. The victim was able to run away.
On July 26, a Hispanic male on a dark colored BMX bicycle approached a local female resident while in the driveway of her Ski Run Blvd area residence. While initiating a brief conversation, the suspect used similar speech and unusually-assertive mannerisms consistent with the suspect at Lakeland Village. The suspect told the victim he was 18 years old, and that his name was “Robert.” The nervous victim told the suspect her family was inside of the residence, and the suspect quickly left the scene.
SLTPD Detectives are working on clues from all three crimes. It is possible that these cases are not connected and committed by different suspects. Not all details are bring released at this time so not to jeopardize the investigation.
Huerta is currently charged with one of the assaults and further charges, or arrests, are possible. His photo is currently unavailable.