Arrest made in hate crime attacks on Westlake transgender woman, LAPD says; 2 suspects at large

WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A suspect has been arrested in connection with a series of hate crime attacks on a transgender woman in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, authorities said Tuesday.

Police said the man who was arrested is one of three men seen on surveillance video dragging the woman out of her Westlake business and beating her.

Two other suspects in the case remain at large, said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who announced the arrest. The name of the person in custody, who was apprehended on May 27, was not immediately released.

Eyewitness News spoke to the survivor, 61-year-old Sabrina De La Peña, on Tuesday. She said she's in a state of panic and still fears for her life.

De La Peña believes the man who was arrested is a decoy, and the two suspects still at large have most brutally attacked her.

She is urging authorities to act with urgency. She believes they began responding more thoroughly after news reporters began covering her case.

"If they don't apprehend the two most violent individuals, if there is a seventh attack, I will not be here to tell the story. I won't be sitting on this stool telling you this story," she said in Spanish.

"Investigative steps have included the release of surveillance images, which I believe you all have, DNA and fingerprint collection, coordination with specialized units, including our gang and our narcotics sections, in an effort ot locate the suspects," McDonnell said

McDonnell said the Los Angeles Police Department opened the investigation into the attacks on April 8, which victimized a transgender woman who owns and resides above a small business on Sixth Street.

"Over the span of five separate incidents ranging from an attempted sexual assault and aggravated assaults to a robbery with a firearm, she has been repeatedly victimized by, we believe, the same group of suspects," the chief said. "These attacks have included verbal slurs, physical violence with weapons, and most recently on May 31, an attempted shooting during a robbery in which $30,000 was taken from her residence."

On Monday, the victim told Eyewitness News that she thought the assailants were going to kill her in the attack on Saturday night, but the gun didn't go off.

"I gave up and I said, 'It's over,' but the gun didn't go off, he shot it twice, twice," De La Peña said in Spanish. "And the other one was already in my room, I think, taking the money."

Detectives released photos that show the men accused of targeting De La Peña.

The attacks began in April when De La Peña said she turned down one of the suspect's advances and he returned and tried to rape her. She said he discovered she was transgender and threatened to kill her.

She said since then, he has returned to her store and with other individuals in six separate attacks.

Surveillance video shows the men dragging De La Peña out of her store and brutally beating her with a skateboard in April.

In the latest attack on Saturday night, she said, the same men returned to her store, but this time, with a gun.

De la Peña said she was struck more than 40 times, and her attackers got away with $30,000 in cash from her store that she needed to pay rent and care for her 17- and 21-year-old daughters. She said she promised her late husband that she would care for them.

"The blows were all directed to the face and head, only the kicks were in the ribs," De La Peña said.

Photos she shared with Eyewitness News show her covered in blood after Saturday's attack. In previous attacks, she said she was sexually assaulted, pepper-sprayed, and tasered.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the at-large suspects or other details about the case is urged to call LAPD Rampart Division detectives at (213) 484-3495.

De la Peña set up a GoFundMe to help pay her expenses while she closes her store, waiting for police to arrest the remaining suspects.