A victim’s tip to police last month has led to the arrest of a 34-year-old man in a string of “horrific” Toronto-area sex assaults dating back to 2015, police say.

Police say a 22-year-old woman was “taken” from the Polson and Cherry streets area, in Toronto’s Port Lands, and sexually assaulted by a man in a parking lot in the early hours on Nov. 1.

That woman was able to note the man’s licence plate and contact police, a moment that broke a years-long investigation into a series of similar GTA sex assaults, Toronto police sex crimes unit Supt. Pauline Gray said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference announcing the man’s arrest.

The tip eventually helped police crack four separate violent sex assault cases since 2015, Gray said, three in Toronto and one in Collingwood, with victims as young as 17.

Dipesh Patel, 34, of Toronto was arrested on Nov. 1, the day of the victim’s tip. He is charged with three counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, three counts of forcible confinement, three counts of assault, two counts of robbery, two counts of threatening death, two counts of choking, one count each of assault with a weapon, extortion and use of a firearm while committing an indictable offence.

All four cases were linked by DNA evidence, Gray said, acknowledging the commitment of the four survivors of the alleged crimes in helping the investigation of this case.

“It is they who ultimately provided the evidence” that led to the arrest, she said. “I’m grateful to them for coming forward and sharing their stories and trusting us with those stories. Know that you are our heroes.”

The arrest is part of an ongoing joint investigation by the Toronto police sex crimes unit and the Ontario Provincial Police criminal investigations branch that was launched in Jan. 2017, following the second of four “horrific” assaults, OPP Det.-Insp. Darren Webster said.

Nearly three years since, Webster said investigators from both Toronto police and OPP “never gave up.” Their partnership, as well as collaboration with the Centre of Forensic Sciences, was vital to the case, he said.

“It’s not only helped confirm that these sexual assaults were committed by the same individual, but it has also led to the arrest,” said Webster.

The first assault happened at about 1 a.m. on July 28, 2015, in the Dufferin Street and Rogers Road area, police said in a news release. A 23-year-old woman was walking in the area when she was approached from behind by a man, who dragged her into a laneway and sexually assaulted her, police said.

The second assault happened soon after 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day 2017 in the area of Birch and Second streets in Collingwood when a 17-year-old girl was pulled into a vehicle and sexually assaulted, police said.

Two months after that assault, investigators from Toronto police and the OPP released composite sketches of the man they believe was responsible for both incidents. The sketches were drawn based on the descriptions of what the victims could remember, police said.

The third assault happened in the area of Eglinton Avenue West and Jane Street around 10:30 p.m. on July 15 of this year after a 28-year-old woman got into what she believed to be a ride-share vehicle and was then sexually assaulted by the driver.

Police say they are concerned there may be other victims. Now that there’s an actual photo of the suspect, police are asking any women or girls who may recognize Patel or have information on the case to contact them.

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Both Webster and Gray thanked the women for participating in the police investigation.

“It’s difficult for the survivors to participate, that’s not lost on us,” Gray said.