A man was arrested on suspicion of breaking into 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 he was stopped by police and 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 December 2 Culver City Police responded to a sexual assault call in the Blair Hills neighborhood. Investigators said Maldonado allegedly entered the boy’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 searched the surrounding area for witnesses and additional evidence, recovering video surveillance footage that showed the suspect leaving the area. At that time, investigators released images from that video.
“Since the day this crime occurred, detectives have worked tirelessly to identify and locate the suspect involved,” department spokesperson Jennifer Atenza said in a news release.
Culver City police collaborated with the UCLA Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office throughout the investigation and will continue to do so in the filing and prosecution of this case, authorities said. .
The police department has not received any reports regarding Maldonado’s connection to additional crimes in the Culver City area. The department said it will continue to collaborate with other law enforcement agencies to identify additional potential victims.
