Police link 3 sex assaults through DNA testing
Police have linked three sexual assaults through DNA testing, indicating a rapist could be on the prowl in the downtown and Charlestown areas.
Those rapes follow several attacks that occurred in the North End earlier this year. Police said two months ago that they were investigating whether the North End rapes were linked, but David Estrada, a police spokesman, said yesterday that the North End and Charlestown rapes do not appear to be related.
In a community alert issued yesterday, police said they are investigating three assaults dating back to August 2007 that originated in the downtown area and ended up in Charlestown. Police said DNA evidence links the three.
In the first rape, on Aug. 8, 2007, a woman was in the area of Stuart Street in the early-morning hours when she accepted a ride from an individual whom she thought she recognized. The woman was raped in Charlestown's Terminal Street area.
On Nov. 22, 2007, another woman said she was raped in Charlestown.
And then, last month, a woman told police she was in the area of Boylston and Arlington streets when she accepted a ride from an individual. The woman told police she was driven to the Terminal Street area in Charlestown, where she was sexually assaulted. The victim told police there was a struggle and the suspect fled.
The latest rape occurred as police were investigating three indecent or sexual assaults against women in the North End this year. In July, a man pushed a woman down on Foster Street and assaulted her. In June, a woman was attacked while walking near Richmond and Fulton streets. In the first attack, a woman was assaulted on Charter Street in January.
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. 