SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 51-year-old Riverside County resident was in custody today in connection with a trio of attacks on women in Aliso Viejo dating back to January 2020.
Authorities said Robert Daniel Yucas, an Army veteran and cargo pilot, is suspected of sexually assaulting a woman last month near Pacific Park Drive and Alicia Parkway, and two other women in January and April of last year in roughly the same area.
In the most recent attack, a woman in her 40s told detectives she was walking alone around 11 p.m. in the area -- which features a greenbelt to the north, a shopping center on the southwest corner and a condominium complex on the southeast -- when a man grabbed her from behind and dragged her into some bushes, where she says she lost consciousness. When she awoke, her assailant had disappeared.
She could not provide his description to investigators, nor could she could she say what happened in the bushes, as she had passed out.
On Jan. 20, 2020, a 22-year-old woman was skateboarding in the area when she was grabbed by a man. She fought back and the man fled.
On April 2, 2020, a woman told detectives a man grabbed her while she was walking in that area and pulled her into the bushes. She also fought back and her attacker fled the scene.
At a midday news conference, Orange County authorities said they believe there may be other alleged victims.
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