Police Saturday said a parolee wanted for allegedly raping a woman in El Segundo, after befriending her on a Metro Green Line train, has been taken into custody in Gardena.

Kerry Frank Lathon, 35, was located at approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday in Gardena by task force officers from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the U.S. Marshals Service, the El Segundo Police Department reported.

Lathon is currently in custody at the El Segundo Police Department.

The crime occurred about 7 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of East Rosecrans Avenue, said El Segundo Police Sgt. Aaron Corkins.

Police circulated a photo of Lathon, a transient on parole for criminal threats.

The victim told police that around 6 that morning, the suspect introduced himself and began conversing with her on the Metro Green Line near the Marine Avenue Station, Corkins said.

About an hour later, after exiting at the Douglas Street Station in El Segundo, Lathon allegedly “guided the victim to a secluded stairwell behind a parking garage in the 2300 block of East Rosecrans Avenue,” Corkins said. “He allegedly raped the victim at that point, then fled on foot in an unknown direction.”

El Segundo police detectives asked anyone with information regarding the crime to call them at (310) 524-2216.

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