DNA from suspect matches that of “East Coast Rapist”
Police said tests confirmed that DNA from a man arrested in Connecticut Friday matches that of the “East Coast Rapist,” who is suspected of attacking at least 17 women in four states.
A state police forensics lab confirmed that 39-year-old Aaron H. Thomas’ DNA matched the DNA collected from crime scenes, New Haven police said in a statement Saturday.
The sexual assaults, which have been linked by genetic evidence, occurred along the East Coast starting in 1997. Attacks have been reported in Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The most recent was the rape of two teenagers in Dale City on Halloween 2009.
1 killed, 5 hurt in P.G. crash
A crash in Accokeek left one person dead and five injured, Prince George’s County police said.
Police said the driver of a Mercury Grand Marquis failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Floral Park Road and Piscataway Road and struck a Nissan Versa, at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
A passenger in the Nissan, 19-year-old Kianna Thomas, of Largo, was killed. Police said the three other people in the Nissan were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The two people in the Mercury were hospitalized with injuries that police said were not life threatening. Police said alcohol may have been a factor in the collision.
Body found on train tracks
Fairfax County police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found on the train tracks in Lorton.
A railroad employee discovered the body Saturday morning near the intersection of Pohick Road and Interstate 95, police spokesman Officer Bud Walker said.
The man had been struck by a train and police do not suspect foul play, he said.
– Emily Babay
