Disney decal helped ID rape suspect

A detective made the arrest, but in this case, it may have been beauty that caught the beast, police say.

Antonio Farias, a suspect in at least five sexual assaults throughout the southern valley since May, was arrested Wednesday after a routine traffic stop and was charged with two counts each of kidnapping and attempted sexual assault.

One of the key factors that alerted patrol officers, said Lt. Chris Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department's sexual assault detail, was a cartoon sticker on the dash of the suspect's car that several victims had identified -- Belle from the Disney film classic "Beauty and the Beast."

"I would say their suspicions were already high," Carroll said of the officers who made the traffic stop, adding: "But when they saw that sticker, it pretty much sealed it. Most people aren't driving around with a sticker of Belle on their dashboard."

Carroll said he couldn't call Farias a beast, but said it would be fair to say that about anyone who assaulted women after luring them to his car.

"I would agree with that," he said.

Farias is currently a suspect in five sexual assaults, but he has only been charged for crimes against two of the victims, Carroll said. He said detectives are interviewing other victims and more charges are expected. At least one of the women reported that she was raped, while others say they were groped and otherwise assaulted.

On June 17, a 22-year-old woman was waiting at a bus stop near Flamingo Road and Arville Street about 7:30 a.m. when a man she later identified as Farias pulled up next to her in a maroon Nissan Altima and repeatedly asked if she needed a ride, because the "bus was always late," according to a police report released Thursday.

The woman, who recently moved to Las Vegas, told police she trusted the man's "welcoming eyes" and eventually got in the car. The driver then drove to an empty parking lot, parked and climbed on top of the woman.

The woman told police she ran from the vehicle but the man chased and tackled her. She said she escaped after kneeing him in the groin.

Another attack detailed in the report involved an 18-year-old woman who told police that at about 4 p.m. on June 19, she was forced into a "shiny red" car by a man she later identified as Farias.

Farias offered $20 for sex and immediately exposed himself, the woman told police. She said she repeatedly denied Farias' requests for sex and eventually got out of the vehicle, at which point he forced her to the ground. She was able to escape and ran across a street to call police, the report said.

Both women accurately described Farias and his vehicle and later identified him from a lineup, the report said.

In an interview, Farias told police he had picked up prostitutes in his car in the past, but not this year.

When asked about the incident with the 18-year-old girl June 19, Farias changed his story and said he had picked her up but that she ran from the vehicle when he began touching himelf. He denied chasing or groping her. Officers wrote that Farias told them that he knew he made a mistake but "continued to blame the females who were getting into the vehicle."

Although police have identified five victims, Carroll said he hopes any additional victims will come forward after seeing Farias' face on news reports.

"We're pretty confident there's more of these people out there," he said. "It's not a stretch to say he'd done this quite a bit."

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.