Charlottesville police are encouraging students to be alert following a Dec. 30 assault in Charlottesville's Greenleaf Park. Police believe a link may exist between the Greenleaf attack and the work of a serial rapist that is a suspect in multiple area assaults since 1997.
Charlottesville Police Sgt. J.E. "Chip" Harding said police believe the serial rapist also may be connected to numerous assaults on University women. Five of the assaults under investigation occurred in the past six months.
"This case really deserves a lot of attention because the vast majority of the serial rapist's victims are U.Va. students," Harding said.
Charlottesville police said an unidentified black male attacked a 34-year-old woman in Greenleaf Park on Monday, Dec. 30 at 2:25 p.m. The park is situated near the Rugby Avenue neighborhood.
The victim and her young son were alone at the park when a man approached them and engaged the woman in a brief conversation. According to Charlottesville police, he began to walk away but came back moments later and grabbed the woman from behind.
The assailant made a comment to the woman, struggled with her as he pulled her to the ground, and fled on foot after the attack. The victim and her son were not injured.
Police said the assailant made a remark to his victim during the Greenleaf assault that is similar to one made by a serial rapist linked by DNA evidence to five area assaults on women since 1997. Police are not disclosing the wording or nature of those comments.
"One of the statements the attacker made to this woman was very consistent with what he was saying in some of the other cases," Harding said.
Police describe the serial rapist's pattern of attack as a swift assault involving blows to the head.
City police described the assailant in the Dec. 30 attack as a black man in his mid- to late-20s who is about 5 feet 8 inches. He was wearing a long-sleeve, black T-shirt and baggy tan pants.
Harding said police are investigating a possible connection between the Greenleaf Park assault and the serial rapist, but that the sketch of the Greenleaf Park assailant is not necessarily that of the serial rapist.
"We certainly can't say it's the same person, but knowing how composites can vary, there's a lot of similarity in the composites," he said.
He said the lack of DNA evidence means the serial rapist cannot be definitively linked to all the assaults under investigation.
"In this Greenleaf case there was not an actual rape, and we don't have any DNA material to say proof positive that this is our guy," Harding said. "Of a bunch of cases that could be him, we only have five cases that we can say it is absolute because we have DNA evidence."
University Police Sgt. Melissa Fielding said the Albemarle County, Charlottesville City and University police are collaborating to investigate the serial rapist.
"We are in communication with the city and the county and there's a joint effort to investigate these cases," Fielding said.
She added that students should not hesitate to call police if they notice suspicious activity.
"If you see people out of character in familiar areas, call the police," she said. "A lot of people feel that that might be a bother to the police, but that's what we get paid to do and we're more than happy to come and check people and situations out."
Harding said that while the serial rapist remains at large, University students should be especially vigilant.
"Behavioral psychologists with the FBI say that it's about a 50 to 1 ratio that he's not sitting at home," Harding said. "He's out about 50 nights for every one night he attacks, and I would bet my paycheck that there are U.Va. students that he's watching right now."
Anyone with information about the serial rapist or the Greenleaf Park assault is encouraged to call Crimestoppers at (434) 977-4000.
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