Attempted rape suspect nabbed at crime scene

COSTA MESA -- A 26-year-old Westminster man was arrested Saturday in

connection with the attempted rape of a Costa Mesa woman picked up at a

bus stop earlier that day.

Police believe the suspect could be the same man who is sought for the

rape of another woman Sept. 16.

Brian Daniel Laningham was arrested after the 33-year-old victim of

Saturday’s incident, who was being interviewed by police at the bus stop,

saw him drive by and pointed him out to officers as the man who had

attacked her.

“She said, ‘Look, that’s him,”’ Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford said.

Officers made a felony stop on Laningham and arrested him without

incident. He is being held in the Costa Mesa Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail

on suspicion of attempted rape, kidnapping, attempted robbery and a

parole violation.

Holford said the law prevents him from disclosing Laningham’s criminal

history, except that he isn’t a registered sex offender.

Saturday’s incident began when the victim was waiting for a bus at 6:45

a.m. near Harbor Boulevard and Bernard Street. The woman reportedly

accepted a ride from Laningham and asked him to drive her to work in

Santa Ana.

After they drove past the victim’s workplace, she asked to be let out. At

that point, Laningham pulled a knife on the woman and demanded sex,

Holford said.

“It’s a reminder not to accept rides from strangers,” Holford said. “You

never know anything about the person that you’re getting into the car

with.”

The victim escaped without injury from the car and ran for help. She

called Santa Ana police -- who later turned the case over to Costa Mesa

-- from a phone near Main Street and MacArthur Boulevard.

Laningham also was arrested on suspicion of robbery because he grabbed

the victim’s purse as she fled.

Because Laningham’s description, car and method of operation were similar

to the suspect being sought in the Sept. 16 rape, detectives are trying

to determine whether he is the same man, Holford said.

The rapist sought in the Sept. 16 rape was described as driving a green

Honda, but Laningham was driving a blue Honda at the time of his arrest,

Holford said.

The rapist in the Sept. 16 incident forced a woman who was walking home

from work at night on Bay Street at Harbor Boulevard into his car at

knifepoint.

The man then drove the woman to the parking lot of an apartment complex

on the 2000 block of Maple Street, where he raped her.

The bus stop where Saturday’s victim was picked up is just a few blocks

away from that parking lot.