Suspect who sexually abused hiker convicted in court

WOODLAND HILLS – On Wednesday, May 8, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Edgar Rodriguez Ruelas, 42, of Woodland Hills, was indicted by a jury on May 2 on five felony charges related to assaults on women in their homes or on trails, in Thousand Oaks and Oak Park.

Ruelas was convicted of assault with intent to commit a sex crime on a person under 18, two additional counts of assault with intent to commit a sex crime on an adult, and assault with intent to commit a sex crime in a residential burglary found guilty. and forcible sexual penetration by a foreign object, with the specific allegation that the offense was committed during a residential burglary in which the defendant entered with the intent to commit a forcible sexual crime.

The jury returned on May 6, 2024 to decide several aggravating factors. On May 7, the jury found three aggravating factors to be true, including the allegation that Ruelas posed a serious danger to society.

Between June 2017 and March 2020, the defendant assaulted five female victims. The first charged offense occurred on June 15, 2017. Ruelas attacked a 25-year-old woman after she entered her Thousand Oaks apartment through an unlocked door. The victim woke up when she heard Ruelas open her bedroom door. He tried to force her to lie on her bed, but the victim resisted. She was able to scream for her roommate and after a brief struggle, Ruelas fled.

On July 14, 2017, around 5:45 a.m. at Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, Ruelas attacked another woman who was hiking alone. Ruelas chased the victim through the park before jumping out from behind bushes wearing all black and a face covering. He took the victim to the ground, straddled her and groped her. The victim told him she had already called the police and her husband, which caused Ruelas to flee. Surveillance captured Ruelas’ vehicle speeding away from the trailhead and through the surrounding neighborhood. That vehicle was later found at Ruelas’ Woodland Hills apartment complex.

In the early morning hours of October 25, 2017, Ruelas entered a Thousand Oaks apartment through an open door while the victim and her boyfriend were sleeping. The victim awoke to find Ruelas standing over her. Ruelas placed one hand over the victim’s mouth and sexually assaulted her with the other hand. His hand covered the victim’s mouth, he moved and when she called for her boyfriend, Ruelas fled out the door.

The victim’s friend chased Ruelas and fought with him until Ruelas broke free and fled. The next charged attack occurred on a trail in Oak Park on April 12, 2019 at approximately 5:40 p.m. Ruelas emerged from the bushes along the trail in all black and a ski mask. He threw the victim to the ground and grabbed her clothing when she fought back. The victim screamed for help while struggling with Ruelas.

The victim told Ruelas that others knew her whereabouts, which caused Ruelas to flee. The victim returned to the trailhead where he encountered a dog handler who called 911.

The fifth and final charged assault occurred on the afternoon of March 5, 2020, against a 16-year-old victim on a trail near her home in Oak Park. Ruelas emerged from the bushes, dressed in black, with a mask and gloves. He pushed the victim to the ground and covered her mouth with his hand. The victim screamed for help and hit Ruelas with a ukulele she was carrying.

She fled down the path until she found a neighbor who helped her call her family and 911. Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and secured surveillance video from the neighborhood. The video showed the victim walking into an open path, and 30 seconds later a vehicle matching one of Ruela’s parked nearby. The driver got out of the vehicle and walked along the same path that the victim had used.

About 23 minutes later, the driver was captured on video running back to his car and driving away. Investigators with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office were able to identify the vehicle’s license plate after determining that a patrol car with a license plate reader had been driving through the area shortly before the attack.

This provided Ruelas’ license plate information, which led to his arrest. Investigators conducted an extensive investigation to identify the other crimes committed by Ruelas.

DNA testing was conducted by forensic scientists from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Services Bureau. Ruelas’ DNA was linked to evidence collected in each of these attacks, with the exception of the attack at Wildwood Regional Park.

Ruelas will be sentenced on June 5, 2024 at 9 a.m. in Ventura County Superior Court Courtroom 46. He faces a maximum sentence of 32 years to life in prison plus 21 additional years.