Deputies search for attempted rapist in Twentynine Palms

Authorities in Twentynine Palms are searching for a man who’s accused of holding a knife to a woman’s throat while attempting to rape her.

Deputies said the incident happened on August 16. The victim was standing in her friend’s front yard when she was approached by the suspect, later identified through the investigation as 29-year-old Lynel Serek Roduk, a Filipino man who’s currently a transient.

According to the sheriff’s release, Roduk allegedly held the woman at knife-point and forced her to walk away from her friend’s house. She told deputies that Roduk said he would stab her if she screamed and directed her a block away, forced her to the ground and attempted to rape her.

When the victim’s friends came looking for her, she was able to kick Roduk in the face and run away. Deputies said the suspect fled the scene on foot and has yet to be located.

Roduk is known to hang out at the Break-N-Run Bar in Twentynine Palms and is also known to sexually harass females in the area. He’s a transient in the Morongo Basin and has no known ties to the area, according to the sheriff’s department.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest and authorities said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, call the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station at 760-366-4175.