Employees at the Kaiser Permanente hospital complex, where police say a predator sexually assaulted a woman and tried to attack two others, were walking two-by-two in hallways Saturday as a safety precaution.
Police have identified the suspect as Luther Hill, 41, but he had not been captured as of Saturday evening and hospital employees at the uptown campus were on edge, said Jack Coch ran, president of the hospital.
Hill, who is wanted on counts of sexual assault and kidnapping, had not been a patient at the hospital and it is unclear why he targeted the hospital on Thursday, Cochran said.
Authorities are investigating Hill in a second attempted sexual assault.
Cynthia Lee, the suspect’s mother, told 9News that her son has a long criminal record and a drug problem, but that she doesn’t believe he sexually assaulted anyone.
“I want him to turn himself in,” Lee said Saturday. “I want him to turn himself in, and I’ll walk with him.”
Cochran said the hospital has already made security changes and is considering more measures.
The crimes occurred a day after Hill was released from jail in Colorado Springs.
Hill, according to authorities, assaulted a woman in a women’s restroom and attacked two others at Kaiser Permanente’s uptown campus. He had just been released on a $3,000 bond for failure to appear in court on a felony menacing charge.
Police would not specify how many tips they received from media attention of the attacks, only to say they were “numerous.” One woman, who asked not to be identified out of fear of the suspect, phoned in a tip claiming the man photographed by hospital surveillance cameras was an acquaintance of hers who recently was released from jail.
The man she identified has a lengthy criminal record, dating back to 1982, that includes allegations he kidnapped a homeless woman in Commerce City. He was convicted of aggravated robbery in 1989 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Police describe Hill as 5-foot- 8, 190 pounds, with a scar on his forehead and a white spot on the back of his head.
About 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Hill is alleged to have sexually assaulted a Kaiser employee in a bathroom and then attempted to assault another woman before fleeing the medical offices at 2045 Franklin St., police said.
He then tried to attack a third woman in the adjacent Skyline building on the Kaiser Permanente campus but could not force open the door to the woman’s bathroom stall, police said.
Staff writer Brandon Lowrey contributed to this report.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
Para leer este artículo en español, vaya a denverpost.com/aldia
