Pasadena police stop ‘serial rapist’ in the making after Houston man’s arrest, chief says

Police believe they stopped a potential serial rapist after arresting a teenager implicated in two sexual assaults and a third attempted assault.

Carlos Eduardo Guevara, 18, was arrested in southwest Houston after he allegedly admitted to sexually assaulting a woman shortly after midnight Tuesday morning, according to Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger. Detectives in Missouri City have also linked Guevara to an almost identical rape case from April 1, for which he is expected to face charges Friday

He’s also accused of attempting to sexually assault a Pasadena woman May 2, Bruegger said.

“I believe this was the beginning of a serial rapist,” Bruegger said. “We have three cases. Any time you have that, it scares the community, and it should. That’s really why I wanted this to be a priority. I have a wife, I have daughters; this is the last thing you want out there is a serial rapist on the streets.”

In all three cases, Guevara scoped the victims out as they exercised inside a Fitness Connection gym. As the victims walked to their car in the parking lot, usually around midnight, he tailed them and followed them home, Bruegger said.

That’s where he would allegedly pull a gun and run up to them, forcing the women into his green Ford Mustang, driving to an isolated area and raping them, the chief said. The victim on May 2 managed to scream and honk her horn as Guevara allegedly ran up to her, scaring him off, Bruegger said.

The other two victims suffered a different fate. During the assault, Guevara allegedly wore a black ski mask, a key detail that officers declined to initially release to make Guevara think they weren’t hot on his trail. One key piece of evidence that was made public, however, was Guevara’s green Ford Mustang, which could be seen with paint primer on the front quarter panel and a red bumper.

An anonymous tip to Houston Crime Stoppers from a concerned citizen led detectives to the Mustang Thursday, Bruegger said. However, the bumper was missing and the front quarter panel with primer was now painted green in an attempt to differentiate the car from the description given by police, Bruegger said.

The teenager even texted his dad a link to a news story about the sexual assault that listed the Mustang as the suspect’s vehicle, trying to assure him that it wasn’t his, Bruegger said.

But in the end, Guevara wound up confessing to the rapes, the chief said. He was charged with aggravated sexual assault as well as aggravated assault in the Pasadena case and is likely going to face similar charges in the Missouri City case, officials said.

He’s facing up to life in prison, if convicted.