Pilot charged with rape hunted women in California park ‘like prey,’ officials say

A 51-year-old cargo pilot faces charges in a series of attacks on women who endured “unimaginable horror” at a Southern California park, authorities say.

Robert Daniel Yucas of Cathedral City was arrested Thursday in Alaska on charges including kidnapping, forcible rape, attempted rape and assault with intent to commit rape, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a release.

He’s accused of dragging three women into the bushes on running trails at Woodfield Park in Aliso Viejo, the release said. Authorities also are investigating similar cases and asked potential victims to come forward.

“An entire community lived in fear that they would be the next victims to be grabbed off a trail, choked unconscious, and raped,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. “These women endured unimaginable horror at the hands of a stranger who hunted them like prey.”

An anonymous tip in a Sept. 4 San Diego case, in which Yucas has not yet been charged, provided DNA test results that led investigators to Yucas, the district attorney’s office said.

Yucas now awaits extradition in Alaska, KTLA reported.

In January 2020, a 24-year-old woman skateboarding in Woodfield Park reported a man choked her unconscious and dragged her into the bushes, where he raped her, the release said.

In April 2020, a 32-year-old woman running in the park reported a man grabbed her and tried to choke her, but ran away after she fought him off, according to the district attorney’s office.

On Aug. 28, a 41-year-old woman walking on a trail reported someone choked her unconscious from behind and dragged her into the bushes, where she regained consciousness to find her pants had been pulled down, the release said.

“The three victims in this case were doing things many of us do every day,” Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said in the release. “But the suspect kidnapped these victims, placed them in chokeholds, sexually assaulted them and changed their lives forever.”

Investigators ask that anyone with information on Yucas or who believes he may have attacked them call 714-647-7419.

“We believe there are additional victims because of the pattern and practice of his predatory behavior,” Barnes told the Los Angeles Times.

This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 3:12 PM with the headline "Pilot charged with rape hunted women in California park ‘like prey,’ officials say."