Detroit Police Capture Suspected Rapist At West Side Gas Station
DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit police say a man accused of abducting two women and raping them over several hours is now in custody.
The 33-year-old man was arrested Thursday night at a gas station on the city's west side. His name has not yet been released.
Investigators say the suspect kidnapped a 19-year-old woman from an east side neighborhood early Wednesday morning and took her to the other side of town where she was allegedly raped over several hours. He then took the woman to another location where she was released.
The man then allegedly abducted a second woman from the east side on Thursday and repeated his attack -- taking her to the west side where she was allegedly raped before being released hours later.
Sgt. Michael Woody said the suspect had the same MO in both attacks: He would drive his red Taurus alongside a woman, get out and force the woman into his vehicle at gunpoint.
The victims reported the attacks to police, who eventually tracked the suspect down near Wyoming and Puritan avenues, near the Lodge Freeway. The suspect was taken into custody without incident.
Woody called the women "heroes" for helping to get such a dangerous man off the streets.
"These women stood up, defiant that they were not going to be victims. They were not going to allow this to happen to any other women and they stood up and they did exactly what needed to be done to make sure that we could get this guy into custody, get him off the street and protect other women in the city of Detroit. Our hats are off to them. We stand humbled by their strength," he said.
Police believe the man, who has a lengthy criminal past, might have attacked other women in the area and are asking those victims to come forward.
"We still have a long way to go to get him to trial, so we have to make sure that he gets prosecuted before we give too much of the details about his history and whatnot," Woody said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 313-267-4600.
Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest.