Woman Testifies Against Man Charged in Multiple Rapes

VAN NUYS â€”  A North Hollywood woman testified Monday that she was repeatedly raped in her apartment by a man she saw the next day when he was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman who lived next door.

From a witness stand in Van Nuys Superior Court, the woman, now 44, identified Scott Daniel Artamenko as her assailant.

A trial began Monday for Artamenko, 24, who is charged with 19 counts stemming from June 30 and July 1 attacks on two women in the adjoining apartments.

If Artamenko is convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

The first victim testified that she was startled awake at 3 a.m. by a man who had climbed atop her and then proceeded to rape her. The man escaped after telling the woman that he had been watching her and knew she had a boyfriend. She reported the rape to police.

On the following night, the first victim was again awakened, this time by “blood-curdling screams . . . like she had never heard before,� said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven J. Ipsen, the prosecutor.

She immediately called police, who banged on the door where the screams were heard, Ipsen said in his opening statement.

Ignoring the knocks and the second victim’s claim that her boyfriend had arrived, Artamenko continued to rape the woman, according to the prosecutor. The 30-year-old woman was able to free herself and run out of her apartment.

Artamenko was arrested after a brief struggle with officers.

Outside the second woman’s apartment, investigators found pants that they believe were worn by the rapist. Inside a pocket was a set of keys stolen from the first woman, authorities said.

Artamenko also told the second woman that he had been watching her and knew when she came and went from her apartment, Ipsen said.