A man suspected in a brazen series of daylight attacks on women at Kaiser Permanente’s uptown complex was arrested as he walked out of a park known for drug dealing, witnesses said Sunday.
Luther Hill, 41, was apprehended at 11:20 p.m. Saturday, less than a mile from the hospital complex where the attacks occurred Thursday. The neighborhood had been under round-the-clock surveillance since Hill was identified as the suspect Friday.
Hill was walking on a sidewalk in the 500 block of 24th Street when two unmarked police cars pulled up in front and in back of him, said Jonathan Vasquez, 35, who watched the arrest from his apartment balcony. Hill immediately raised his arms and surrendered, Vasquez said.
Police identified Hill, who was wearing a blue bandanna, shorts and a blue T-shirt, by lifting his shirt, which revealed a tattoo near his shoulder, Vasquez said. The officers then traded high- fives, he said.
“They were real jubilant,” Vasquez said. “I’m glad they caught him. It was kind of creepy.”
Vasquez said he heard Hill tell police he wasn’t doing anything wrong and only had a pipe.
Police took the man suspected of terrorizing women at the medical complex to Denver Health Medical Center because he claimed he had injured his foot jumping out of a window, said Sgt. Frank Gale, spokesman for the Denver Sheriff’s Department.
He was later transferred to Denver City Jail, where he was being held Sunday on $200,000 bail, Gale said.
Hill’s public defender, Mike Boyce, said his client is only under investigation and has not been formally charged. He said he spoke briefly with Hill and couldn’t comment on what his client said.
“All I know is there was some guy running around in Kaiser, and I guess they’re accusing him of that,” Boyce said Sunday afternoon.
A woman called detectives Friday and told them that Hill was the man seen on videotape walking through the hospital.
The woman said she was relieved after hearing he was in custody.
“It was an ugly situation,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used because she fears retaliation. “I did the right thing. More innocent people will not be hurt.”
She said Hill, whom she has known for 30 years, has been using crack.
Hill has an extensive criminal record dating to 1982 for drug, robbery and assault convictions. He was released from jail a day before the attacks after posting a $3,000 bond for failure to appear in court on a felony menacing charge.
John White, spokesman for the Denver police, said the arrest was possible because of numerous tips the department received.
At about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Hill is alleged to have sexually assaulted a Kaiser employee in a bathroom. Police said he attempted to assault another before fleeing the medical offices at 2045 Franklin St.
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.
Kaiser employees, who have been taking extra precautions since the incidents, including walking in pairs down hallways, said they were relieved the suspect was caught.
“I never expected anything like this to happen here,” said Sherri Epperson, nurse manager at Kaiser’s Skyline Internal Medicine. “The surprising part is that someone would be so brazen.”
Donna Lynne, president of Kaiser, said the sexual assault was a random, isolated event.
“I don’t know if we can prevent the same thing from happening in the future,” she said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
Staff writer JP Eichmiller can be reached at 303-820-1201 or jeichmiller@denverpost.com.
