A Santa Monica man has been charged with raping a woman near Culver City in October and attempting to kidnap a UCLA student in March, authorities said.
Alexander Schecter, 26, was initially arrested at his Santa Monica home on March 12 after UCLA Police Department officers identified him as a suspect in a case where he allegedly stopped two female students from leaving their cars near campus.
Police said that at approximately 3 a.m. on March 8, two female students reported that a man prevented them from getting out of their vehicle and threatened them with violence as they were being dropped off near UCLA. Shekter was granted bail and released.
As UCPD officers continued to investigate, they identified Shekhar as the suspect in a previously unreported sexual assault involving a different woman, which had occurred approximately five months prior to the alleged kidnapping.
Neither Shechter nor the other female victim are believed to have any ties to the university, police said. On March 21, UCPD officers arrested him again. He then posted $100,000 bail and was released, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s Inmate Information Center.
According to the criminal complaint, he was charged Thursday with one count of kidnapping in commission of another crime, one count of first-degree residential burglary, two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count of rape. He will be indicted on Friday.
He is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the area of ​​Venice Boulevard and Clarington Avenue on the border of the Palms and Culver City between 2 and 5 a.m. on Oct. 12, police said. Residential robbery and forcible oral copulation charges also stem from the same incident, according to court records.
Detectives believe there may be additional victims and are asking anyone with information to contact UCPD’s Investigations Division at (310) 825-9371.
