Crime & Safety
"East Coast Rapist" Suspect Caught Thanks to Technology
Prince William County Police worked with other local law enforcement agencies as well as the FBI on the East Coast Rape Task Force that led to the arrest of a suspect on Friday.
Investigators found the man accused of being the “East Coast Rapist” through a mixture of new technology and old-fashioned investigative techniques, police said Monday.
Aaron Thomas, 39, was after officials said they linked him to 12 assaults through DNA evidence. An anonymous tip from Prince George's County, Maryland resulted in more information that lead to Thomas' arrest in New Haven, Conn.
Thomas faces an arraignment in New Haven today.
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Police had long believed the 12 cases going back to 1997 were the work of a single offender, dubbed the “East Coast Rapist.” Law enforcement officials from the involved jurisdictions cooperated to form the East Coast Rape Task Force shortly after the last incident, which occurred in Dale City on Halloween night in 2009.
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