Man Held in Assault in Restaurant

A man who authorities said eluded an extensive search by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after allegedly assaulting a woman in a Valencia restaurant was arrested hours later when he attempted to report the car he left behind as stolen.

Jason Cross, 18, of Newhall, was being held in lieu of $60,000 bail after he was arrested Friday night, deputies said Saturday. He is suspected of attacking a woman in a restroom at the Ranch House Inn on Tourney Road on Friday afternoon, deputies said.

The 22-year-old victim walked into the restroom and began to scream when she saw a man waiting inside with his pants down, according to sheriff’s reports. The woman was punched several times and suffered a concussion when she was knocked into a wall, the reports said.

The attacker fled on foot and eluded a search involving several deputies, dogs and a helicopter. However, police impounded a car in the restaurant parking lot that witnesses had said belonged to the attacker.

Deputies said that Cross called at 7 p.m. Friday from a friend’s house to report his car stolen. Deputies who went to the house, ostensibly to take the report, arrested him.