SAN DIEGO -- Police are investigating whether two recent Carmel Valley home invasions are connected to a rape near the University of California, San Diego last year, 10News reported.

On Wednesday, UCSD police told 10News they were looking into similarities to see if there could be a connection between the crimes.

San Diego police said there are definite similarities and are working to find out if they are linked.

On March 4 in Carmel View, a woman was blindsided by a man with a knife, police said. The man crept under the garage door, tied up the woman, fondled her and then robbed her.

A few weeks before that on Feb. 10, the same crime occurred not too far away on Whispering Hills. Police said a woman arrived home from shopping and a man holding a knife slipped under the garage door. He threatened her, tied her up and robbed her.

Last November, at UCSD's off-campus housing, a young woman was attacked. Police said the attacker was waiting for her inside the apartment when she arrived. He had a knife, tied her up, sexually assaulted her and robbed her.

10News learned that in every case the victims were Asian women and each attack happened during the day.

While the description of the alleged attacker varies a little, each victim described him as short with a thin build, in his late 20s or early 30s and wearing jeans.

While both campus police and the SDPD said they're working together to see if there's a connection, they said there is nothing concrete to suggest it.