Rapist nabbed

A man suspected to be the "East Coast Rapist," who police believe is responsible for raping two teenage trick-or-treaters in Woodbridge in 2009 during a decade-long a string of attacks, was arrested on Friday in Connecticut. Aaron Thomas, a 39-year-old unemployed truck driver, was taken "without incident" at his home in New Haven, according to police. His bail was set at $1.5 million.

The East Coast Rapist is suspected of at least 14 sexual assaults and two abductions in Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland.

Prosecutor David Strollo said that Thomas made incriminating comments to law enforcement officials since his arrest, including asking a marshal, "why haven't you picked me up sooner?" and, "what took you so long to get me?"

At a press conference in Prince William County in Virginia, officials stated that Thomas being charged for abduction, rape, being a fugitive, and using a firearm while committing a felony. Thomas faces several life sentences if convicted in Virginia, but will likely be tried in Connecticut first.

The East Coast Rapist attacks began in 1997 and continued for over a decade. Even though many of his crimes were committed outdoors, the attacker often used a mask or hooded sweatshirt to conceal his identity. In most of the incidents, the attacker approached women on foot and threatened them with a gun, knife, or other sharp instrument.

Authorities found DNA at many of the crime scenes, and were able to link the cases to the same suspect. DNA from a cigarette butt Thomas dropped while leaving a local court linked him to many of the crime scenes.

Police believe that Thomas may be responsible for other sexual assaults and attacks, some which may not have been reported. Public records showed that Thomas lived in Maryland and Virginia before moving to Connecticut approximately four years ago.

"This case concerned me almost as much as the D.C. sniper case did," said Prince William County prosecutor Paul Ebert. "I'm hoping the public is now more at ease." Ebert noted that his community had remained in fear after the rapist's Halloween attack in 2009.

Police credited an anonymous tip from Prince George's County, Md. for helping lead to Thomas' arrest. The tip was filed in a new, detailed police database, the Law Enforcement Information Exchange, which was established during a publicity campaign by law enforcement. The campaign included electronic billboards in the states where attacks occurred.

"We always suspected a tip from the public would help us solve this case," said Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer.

Police arrested Thomas on Friday and, over the weekend, continued to search the house where he lived with his girlfriend and 5-year-old son. Officials said that Thomas attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself in his cell on Saturday. But after being examined at a local hospital, he was quickly returned to jail.

Joseph Lopez, the public defender for Thomas, wrote in court papers that he was worried officials "will undoubtedly try to connect this defendant to multiple unsolved sexual assaults complaints in multiple jurisdictions. Although some of these cases may be tied to the defendant through DNA, there are multiple cases where it appears there is no DNA evidence."

Lopez wrote that prosecutors will likely try to have victims or witnesses identify Thomas as the attacker in cases where there is no DNA evidence.

The East Coast Rapist case adds fuel to the ongoing debate in Virginia over the police use of "familial DNA." Fairfax County Police Detective John Kelly said he believed that the case would have been solved years ago if Virginia law enforcement had used familial DNA searching.

When DNA found at a crime scene cannot be matched to a suspect, familial DNA searching allows authorities to track down a family connection due to DNA similarity. If a law enforcement database contained the DNA of a suspect's family member, a familial DNA search would reveal the link.

Because of privacy concerns, many states, including Virginia, forbid the use of familial DNA searching.

Ebert agreed that the case may have been closed years ago if police had access to this controversial tool. The police database did include DNA from one of Thomas' family members and would have led police in the correct direction.

Only two states allow the use of familial search, Colorado and California, but Virginia has been moving towards the idea. In December of 2010, the Fairfax Times reported that the Virginia Crime Commission was discussing the implementation of familial searching as a law enforcement tool.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

"Like" us on Facebook today!