Local News in Brief : $130,000 Settlement Reached in Assault Suit

The owners of a Northridge office building and a maintenance company have agreed to pay a $130,000 settlement to two women who were assaulted by a man who entered an unlocked building where the two worked. The trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday.

One of the women was brutally raped and her co-worker was locked in a closet while the two were working the night of May 6, 1982, attorneys for the women said. The attacker, who was never apprehended, apparently entered through two doors that should have been locked, attorneys said.

The Northridge Commerce Center, owners of the two-story office building at 9020 Reseda Blvd., and California Property Service Inc., a custodial firm that maintained the building, agreed to the settlement Friday, attorneys said.

Attorney James Allen Goldstein, who represented one of the women, said the suit alleged that employees of the custodial firm left the building unlocked after they finished cleaning. In addition, Goldstein said, his client believed that the building should have had an alarm system because employees worked there at night.

Ingall W. Bull, who represented the custodial firm, said his client denied leaving the building unlocked. Craig F. Sears, attorney for the building owner, said his client did not believe that a security system was necessary because the building “is in a good neighborhood.”

An insurance company that paid for medical expenses incurred by the two women will also share in the settlement, attorneys said.