Suspected Serial Groper Arrested Again In Santa Ana
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — A 21-year-old Anaheim man who allegedly sexually assaulted at least eight women in Tustin a few months ago was arrested again Thursday for groping another victim in Santa Ana.
Gary Dalton Derusha is in custody on $100,000 bail after Santa Ana police said he pulled down the pants of a woman and grabbed her buttocks outside her home on May 21.
Authorities said Derusha followed the alleged victim to her residence after she dropped off her child at Fairhaven Elementary School in Santa Ana.
Police said the suspect was seen on two other occasions since the May incident.
"On Sept. 16, he again follows the same victim home from dropping her daughter off at Fairhaven Elementary. She's able to see him. She immediately calls 911. And on the 911 tape, she gives us the license plate," Santa Ana Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
The license plate number led law enforcement to Derusha.
Officials learned that Tustin police arrested Derusha in August for groping women, but he was released on bail.
"Well, what he does, is he tries to sneak up behind women, pull their shorts or their pants down, and [sexually assaults them]," Bertagna said.
On Oct. 15, the Santa Ana victim saw the suspect again outside her child's school.
Police then obtained a $100,000 arrest warrant for Derusha, which was served to him Thursday.
Law enforcement had to force their way into the suspect's bedroom in order to arrest him, KCAL9's Michele Gile reported.
Derusha is charged with eight counts of touching an intimate part of another person, a count of assault, a count of battery, a count of carrying a switchblade knife on him and a count of resisting arrest, all misdemeanors.
In 2012, the suspect pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of having sex with a minor.
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