NEWBURY PARK : Insanity Plea Entered in Break-Ins, Attacks

A Newbury Park man accused of breaking into the apartments of two elderly Thousand Oaks women and attempting to rape them entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrice D. Koenig said that David Paul Stewart entered the apartment of the women, ages 87 and 73, on May 14 and tried to sexually assault them.

Stewart, 33, had entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of residential burglary and two counts of assault with the intent to commit rape before changing the pleas during an arraignment Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell ordered Stewart back to court on Sept. 19, after the defendant has been evaluated by two psychologists, who will try to determine both his current sanity and his mental state at the time of the alleged offense.

At a June 30 preliminary hearing in which Stewart was ordered to stand trial, the older woman said she fought Stewart off by hitting him repeatedly with a telephone after he entered her apartment. The other woman said Stewart came into her bedroom around 2:30 a.m., touched her and tried to kiss her.

Police said they found Stewart still in the apartment building.

A sheriff’s detective testified that a drunken Stewart had been spotted at a local bowling alley several hours before the attack, making advances at women and offering one woman money to have sex with him.