Police continued to hunt for the pastor of a Glendale church wanted for questioning in the sexual assault of a minor at a Covina hotel, one day after the suspect proclaimed his innocence in a video shot while on the lam, and said he plans to turn himself in Wednesday.
“I did not do nothing wrong,” Douglas Rivera said in a video apparently shot with a cell phone and posted Friday night on Instagram.
“I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Something happened in that hotel, and that’s the simple answer,” Rivera said in video obtained by ABC7. The station spoke with Rivera on the phone, but police said the suspect has not reached out to them.
“I’ve just finished with my lawyer,” Rivera says in the video. “I am going to jail on Wednesday, with the lawyer, to submit myself so they could continue their investigation. There is absolutely no truth to that. No matter what you see on the Instagram or the TV, there is no truth to it.”
The 40-year-old suspect then tearfully asks people to keep him in prayer.
Authorities were seen at Rivera’s Baldwin Park home towing the truck, a Dodge 4500 Ram, that he was seen riding in when the alleged assault was reported. Police said the truck had been painted a different color.
Covina Police Lt. Trevor Gaumer told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that media images of the suspect led to numerous calls from people who are part of or associated with God’s Gypsy Christian Church of Los Angeles.
The callers said they believed the man depicted in surveillance video and still shots was Rivera, the Glendale church’s pastor, Gaumer told The Tribune.
The assault was reported at 8:08 p.m. Wednesday at Vanllee Hotel and Suites at 1211 E. Garvey St., according to the Covina Police Department. The suspect drove through the hotel’s parking lot until he saw a lit room with drapes open and then parked his truck to face the interior of the room, police said.
Two teenaged girls visiting from China on a field trip were inside of the hotel room.
The suspect masturbated while watching the two girls, police said. He exited the truck and stood outside of their hotel window pretending to be on the phone for more than 30 minutes before he walked through the hotel and forced his way into the room once the girls opened the door believing it was their chaperone, police said.
The suspect assaulted one of the girls and fled in his truck, police said. The case was described as an “oral copulation investigation.”
The girls do not speak English, according to reports from the scene.
Covina Police Lt. Ric Walczak said the victim was part of a group from a school in Hangzhou, China and is between 10 and 13 years old, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
The suspect was described as having a stocky build, balding with hair around his ears and a short beard. He was wearing a tan/brown suit with a blue and white striped shirt and prescription glasses.
Anyone with information regarding the assault or Rivera’s whereabouts was urged to call (626) 384-5621 to speak with Covina police Detective Ramirez or the watch commander at (626) 384-5665.
Anonymous tops can be submitted through Crime Stoppers at (800) 222- TIPS (8477).
—City News Service