Orange County Serial Rape Suspect With Ties To Riverside & San Diego Counties Arrested

ALISO VIEJO, CA — A cargo pilot suspected of at least one rape and multiple attempted rapes across Southern California is in custody this week, authorities announced Monday. The suspect, Robert Daniel Yucas, is a 51-year-old army veteran and reservist who lives in Riverside County, hunted his victims in the Orange County wilderness and cut a wide swath around the world through his work, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department investigators.

Yucas, lately of Cathedral City by way of Aliso Viejo, was arrested just two weeks after a woman was attacked on the Aliso Creek Trail. That was the third known incident of rape or attempted rape in that eight-mile loop. His arrest occurred after nearly two years of investigation in the string of attacks along Aliso Creek Trail in Aliso Viejo. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said Yucas was taken into custody in Anchorage, Alaska on suspicion of committing at least one rape, two attempted rapes and three kidnappings in Orange County.

Yucas is known to spend time in San Diego County and is thought to have attacked most recently in San Diego in early September, according to reports.

Investigators have been "tenacious in never letting this case go," Barnes said. "We can all live a little safer in knowing he is off the streets." He is currently in the custody of the Anchorage Police Department in Alaska. When he is extradited, he will be formally charged in Orange County, according to the district attorney's office.

Since January 2020, a series of attempted rapes and attacks along the Aliso Creek Trail has sparked fear in residents who enjoy that idyllic walking path in the heart of Orange County. Trees, brush and wildlife surround the meandering, moderately trafficked path. The last known attack was on Aug. 28, when someone rendered a woman unconscious before assaulting her in the underbrush off the trail.

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Victim Accounts Detail The Work Of A Serial Predator

On Jan. 20, 2020, a 24-year-old woman was at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo to skateboard when a man later identified as Yucas asked her for directions.

While the woman pulled out her phone, the man grabbed her in a chokehold and dragged her into the bushes next to the walking path. The woman lost consciousness and awoke to find she had been raped, District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. Still, her account has led to the most detailed composite sketch of the Aliso Creek rapist.

On April 2, 2020, a 32-year-old woman was running in Woodfield Park when a man suspected to be Yucas grabbed her from behind and put her in a chokehold, authorities said. The man then dragged her into the bushes in an attempt to rape her, but she managed to fight him off, according to reports.

On Aug. 28, a 41-year-old woman was in Woodfield Park when a man, suspected to be Yucas, grabbed her and put her in a chokehold, authorities said. She lost consciousness and woke up in the bushes next to a walking path with her pants pulled down, Spitzer's office said.

The three known victims suffered both physical and psychological scars from the attacks, authorities said. Each woman carries those scars still, Barnes said in a news conference Monday. Officials are concerned that more women are out there bearing similar scars as he is also a suspect in additional crimes in both Riverside and San Diego counties.

Read: Sexual Assault Near Woodfield Park Mirrors Previous 2020 Attacks

Each woman shared their description with sheriff's department sketch artists, according to reports. All described their attacker as a large, bald, muscular man. His methods were the same in each attack, officials said. He confronted women who were exercising alone, grabbed them in a chokehold, then dragged them into the bushes to assault them. One fought back successfully, but the other two were unable to fend him off.

After each attack, those composite pictures were released to the public. Officials never had a lead until last week.

"The victims are indiscriminate. The women were unrelated, just snatched from that trail," Spitzer said Monday."Only the pattern of attacks that tied them together."

The district attorney's office and sheriff's department are seeking other victims who may not have reported similar attacks at the hands of the suspect.

Yucas is slated to be extradited within 30 days or more, according to the DA's office. He will be on the docket daily until that occurs, for the formal filing of charges.

The DA said that Yucas may have more victims across the country, due to his profession as a pilot for Kalitta Air, a cargo shipping company. He has a military background and has ties to Orange County, San Diego County and Riverside County, according to officials.

DNA Leads To Identification Of Rape Suspect

An anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers led investigators to a Sept. 4 attack in San Diego that ultimately led to the DNA hit in the Orange County DNA Database.

Last week, Yucas was identified through a "buccal swab" — or cheek swab DNA test — taken by San Diego authorities after that attack, Barnes reported. The DNA profile on Yucas collected by San Diego authorities matched a January attack on the Aliso Creek Trail, according to official reports.

Running his DNA through the OC Crime Lab Database, officials were able to identify another case in Riverside County, Barnes said.

Though investigators learned he was flying from China to Anchorage at the time of the discovery, all of the DNA hits led to his ultimate arrest in Anchorage by Anchorage police, authorities said.

Yucas has led an international life, serving in Germany as a chief warrant officer during his time in the military.

Orange County is seeking his extradition within 30 days, according to the district attorney's office.

"Sexual predators do not stop. They only stop when detectives stop them," Spitzer said. "Bobby Yucas is no longer prowling trails, looking for women to rape in Aliso Viejo."

The collaboration between law enforcement, including the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and the San Diego, Anchorage, and Cathedral City Police Departments, made this arrest possible, officials said. Still, there is more work to be done.

Authorities are asking for anyone with additional information related to Yucas or any additional victims to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Sexual Assault Unit at 714-647-7419.

Related:

Sexual Assault Near Woodfield Park Mirrors Previous 2020 Attacks

Kidnapping, Assault Suspect Sought In Aliso Viejo

Woman Fights Off Attacker On Aliso Creek Trail, Cops Say

Woman Pepper Sprays Attacker On Aliso Creek Trail: Cops

Man Accused Of Grabbing Women Near Aliso Viejo Creek Arrested

This report will be updated.