DETROIT – A Detroit man whom police have called a person of interest in the possible serial rape and murder of three women on the city’s east side has been arrested and charged with a separate assault.

Wayne County prosecutors arrested Deangelo Martin, a 34-year-old homeless man with no violent crimes on his criminal record, and are charging him with criminal sexual conduct and assault with intent to murder.

Those charges stem from a May 7 stabbing and sex assault of a 26-year-old woman in an east side home. The victim fought for her life and was able to escape, police said.

Martin will be arraigned in 36th District Court on Monday. Police Chief James Craig said today that Martin is being treated as a suspect in their ongoing investigation into a suspected serial killer targeting sex workers in Detroit. However, he has not yet been charged with any of those fatal crimes.

“We believe this suspect is tied into all the crimes,” Craig said. “We’re confident he is connected to all the victims we described.”

Martin was taken into custody June 7, two days after the body of a woman was found in a vacant house on Mack Avenue.

The bodies of the other two women were discovered in separate empty dwellings earlier this year. The first on Coventry Street on March 19 and the second on Linhurst Street on May 20. Investigators previously said they believe all three deaths are related. All three victims tied to the possible serial killer were women in their early 50s.

Police also believe Martin may be linked to a separate June 3 attack on a female in her 50s at the same vacant home on Mack Avenue, but the victim was also able to escape. Both survivors are cooperating with police.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan previously announced that 40 police officers will immediately start inspecting abandoned houses on the east side of Detroit in teams of two.

The mayor says the houses then will be boarded up over the next two or three weeks. Fifty-five of those homes were boarded up over the weekend, despite crews facing challenges such as burned-out second floors and flooded basements.