Police Ask For Help In Locating East Tulsa Serial Rapist

Tuesday, April 15th 2014, 10:47 pm

By: Emory Bryan

Tulsa Police are hunting for a possible serial rapist in East Tulsa. In each case, the brutality of the attack has gone up, and in the last one, the suspect had a gun. Police are now examining the clues in the last attack.

The police are working on the idea that one man is behind all three attacks, so they're looking at similarities between the attacks, and hoping to catch a break with a tip from the public.

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Detective Rod Russo has been doing a lot of driving in the last few weeks in East Tulsa. He's investigating three sexual assaults over the last three weeks, all near the intersection of 21st Street and 145th East Avenue.

"He stays here, he's probably in this area, so I would ask people to take around and if there's somebody who is a suspicious, that acts a little bit off, then call us," Russo said.

The attacks started March 24th, in the parking lot outside of a church. The second one, April 1st, was more violent. It was inside a different church, where the suspect dragged his victim through the halls before running away.

For the third one, last Sunday, the attacker had a gun. He took a woman into some woods and raped her.

Now the police are checking walking paths because the attacker seems to have been on foot each time. They're coordinating with street patrol officers, and asking people who live in the area to keep watch, and call them with information.

"For a stranger rape, that means they're really dangerous and we have to find them," Russo said.

Detectives have similar descriptions of the suspect in all three attacks; a man about 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11, 175 pounds and in his mid-30's.

They're not convinced all three attacks are the work of the same man, but believe they could be. That would show a pattern of increasing violence.

Russo and the other officers in Tulsa's sex crimes division will keep driving, and keep looking.

"It's very frustrating, and you're right, it's a needle in a haystack. But if I'm not out here looking, how am I gonna catch them," asked Russo.

Police really hope someone will recognize something unusual about a person in the area where the attacks happened.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.