For the past three weeks, local crime statistics reflected a rise in violent crime, and a slight dip in property crimes. Assault and armed robberies ( theft of cell phones increasing all over the city ) have been on the rise, but today on the outskirts of Venice there was a murder, and forcible rape reflecting a serious shift in violent attacks.
At around 8 a.m. a radio call came out about a person, covered in blood outside of a medical office on Venice Blvd. The call initially indicated that the person may have been shot elsewhere. The victim, Robert Rainey, was beaten to death in his chiropractic office at the 9200 block of Venice.
At approximately 5 p.m. a victim reported that a white male, 6 ft tall, brown hair, brown eyes, forced his way into an apartment and executed a rape by bodily force ( no weapons ), and fled in a Silver late model Nissan Z 2 door in an unknown direction. This happened at the 12500 block of Culver Blvd, just two blocks away from the Pacific Division police station.
Just prior to the sexaul attack call, a female transient beat holes in an apartment door at the 500 block of North Venice Blvd. Her face was bloody, and she was reported to be under the influence of narcotics.
The community is encouraged to pay attention to your surroundings. Make note of unusual vehicles and license plates in your neighborhood. Don’t walk distracted by a cell phone, and use caution and awareness when entering/exiting your car and home. For more information on local crime check the stats at the LA Times crime page.
