Rape of juvenile under investigation

The Commerce Police Department is investigating the alleged rape of a juvenile female at a Hillcrest Street residence.

According to the incident report, the girl was spending the night with a friend, awakened at around 1 a.m. and went to the bathroom, but as she opened the door, a black male pulled her in, pushed her to the floor and raped her.

The incident came to light the next day when a 23-year-old white male in the girl’s residence noticed that the victim had not come out of her room all day. He asked her what was wrong, and she recounted the events of the previous night.

The report said the girl was afraid to scream for help during the incident, and the next day was afraid to tell anyone what happened.

The police have the name of the suspect, as well as physical evidence of the assault, the report indicated. Initial attempts to locate the man — whose name is known — proved futile, but the case has been turned over to police detectives.