At least one sexual attack in New Haven has been connected to a serial rapist terrorizing women up and down the East Coast, according to police in Virginia.
The man remains on the run, but using DNA, police have linked 13 cases in 4 states to the same individual.
New Haven police say the man is linked to a sexual assault on Smith Avenue. They're also checking to see if he's responsible for other 2 others on Lewis Street and Bright Street and an attempted sexual assault at Brewery Square. All happened around 2007.
But police in Prince George's County, Maryland, believe the same person also attacked women in the D.C. suburb dating back to February 1997. Authorities in Fairfax County, Virginia, believe the same person also attacked four times in Alexandria, Virginia, dating back to June 1999.
"Someone knows this offender. Someone recognizes this patter of behavior," said David Rohrer, police chief in Fairfax County, Virginia.
The most recent attack was this October in Dale City, an outlying suburb of Washington, D.C. In all, at least 11 cases in the Washington, D.C. area appear to be connected. There is also reportedly a 2006 sexual assault from Cranston, Rhode Island that is connected to the same individual.
In January 2007, NBC Connecticut reported a string of string of sexual assaults in New Haven, where the suspect allegedly attacked women while they slept.
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In a statement released by Fairfax County Police, the department confirmed that investigators in all jurisdictions are in contact and that they believe the incidents "are related because of case similarities and DNA evidence."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
