Aug. 07--Los Angeles police have arrested a man they allege forced his way into a San Fernando Valley home and tried to sexually assault a housekeeper earlier this week.
Kevin William Lasz, who turned 30 Friday, was arrested Thursday evening on suspicion of assaulting someone during a burglary with the intention of rape, the LAPD said.
Police described an unsettling series of events that they said led up to the attempted assault on Wednesday afternoon. They allege that Lasz first knocked on the door of a home in the 17000 block of Minnehaha Street in Granada Hills and asked a woman there if he could come inside her house.
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The woman was afraid of Lasz and called 911, said LAPD Officer Matthew Ludwig.
About five minutes later, Ludwig said, Lasz knocked on the door of a home in the 19000 block of San Jose Street. He said the housekeeper answered and Lasz allegedly "forced his way inside."
Police said Lasz tried to assault the woman but she was able to fight back, prompting him to run away.
In an interview with KTLA, the homeowner said the man told her housekeeper he lived in the neighborhood and that his name was Kevin.
"He knocked her down, but she just got up and kicked him really good in the crotch," Alice Gratias told the television station. "She was a fighter."
Police said detectives arrested Lasz in the 17000 block of San Jose Street -- just around the corner from the Minnehaha Street house. Jail records showed he was being held in lieu of $1-million bail.
