Police look for suspect in assaults Police...

Police look for suspect in assaults

Police are looking for a man they suspect committed a string of

sexual assaults in Huntington Beach, Irvine, Fountain Valley, Costa

Mesa and Santa Ana.

Irvine police believe Alvaro Flores, 27, also known as Olivares

Flores, attacked a woman in an Irvine apartment complex at about 5:45

p.m. on March 24.

The woman was assaulted from behind, forced to the ground and the

assailant removed her underwear.

The victim was not injured, and so far, no injuries have been

reported connected to the assaults, which date back to December 2000.

“No one’s ever been hurt,” Irvine police Lt. Mike Hamel said.

Flores’ last known address is on Cameron Street, in Huntington

Beach.

Huntington Beach investigators have not named Flores as a suspect,

though Huntington police are researching the crimes, Sgt. Dave

Bunetta said.

“We do have that information, and our detectives are checking our

files to see if there are any similarities,” Bunetta said.

In the assaults linked to Flores, the attacker strikes at large

apartment complexes with carports, and usually targets women wearing

dresses or skirts. Many of the women who have been attacked were

carrying bags or groceries.

The attacker is described as 5-foot-7, weighing about 150 pounds,

about 27 years old with dark hair and dark eyes. The attacks have

been during the week, usually between 6 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m.

Anyone with information on the assaults or Flores’ whereabouts can

call Huntington Beach police at (714) 960-8811. The phone number for

the Irvine Police Department is (949) 724-7177.

Man targeted in hate crimes

A Huntington Beach man’s car was set on fire just weeks after it

was spray painted with racial epithets.

At about 1:23 a.m. Monday, Kywan Lee, who lives in the 16700 block

of Blanton Street, reported that his 1997 black Mitsubishi Eclipse

was on fire.

Police said a neighbor woke Lee up and alerted him to the blaze.

“Lee went outside and found his car fully engulfed in flames,” Lt.

Corby Bright said.

After firefighters put out the fire, they asked police to conduct

an arson investigation, Bright said.

On March 8, Lee reported that his car was spray painted with

racial slurs. A derogatory term used against African Americans was

spray painted in white paint on both sides of the car.

Police investigated that as a hate crime. Investigators are

looking into the possibility that the arson and vandalism incidents

are related.

Preliminary trial delayed in slaying

The preliminary hearing for Jamie Allen Balint, who is accused of

stabbing his mother to death in December, has been postponed until

May 21.

The court date for a pretrial hearing has been scheduled for April

23 at Superior Court in Westminster.

Balint, 35, is charged in the stabbing death of his mother in

their Huntington Beach apartment. On Dec. 2, police, who were flagged

down by Balint’s brother, found 55- year-old Pamela Balint dead

inside the apartment she shared with Jamie Allen Balint in the 300

block of 5th Street.

Balint pleaded not guilty in February.