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E.L. Police release sketch of local sexual assault suspect

May 29, 2013

A composite sketch has been created of the suspect who is believed to be involved in the recent sexual assaults that have taken place in East Lansing.

East Lansing Police Capt. Jeff Murphy, said composites such as the one released by ELPD often can be quite authentic.

“It’s actually kind of amazing at how accurate some of them are, but then I’ve seen others that are not really as accurate,” Murphy said. “It just depends on how much the witness saw and depends on the skills of the composite artist to draw that information.”

In addition to the composite sketch, the ELPD now believes the suspect might have a tattoo on his left arm or shoulder.

“Everything that we can add to the investigation just furthers the investigation,” Murphy said. “The reason we release stuff like this to the public is to try to seek out any witness that we haven’t found in the past and sometimes these composites do that.”

“It’s quite likely that someone may recognize the composite (and) may put a couple pieces of the puzzle together for us,” he continued.

The suspect likely is involved in a slew of sexual assaults that have taken place over the past few months, with the most recent assault taking place May 16 at approximately 8 p.m. in the parking lot outside of Abbott Pointe Apartments. The suspect dragged the victim behind a dumpster where he physically and sexually assaulted her. He was last seen on Abbot Road just north of Saginaw Street.

Two similar incidences took place in April, the first of which taking place on Coolidge Road south of Lake Lansing Road around midnight on April 20. The victim again was dragged to a secluded area where she was physically and sexually assaulted.

The second incident took place at approximately 3 a.m. on April 26 in the 300 block of Charles Street. The victim was dragged to a secluded area where she was physically assaulted and an attempted sexual assault occurred.

In all of these cases, the suspect was described as a white male with an average build and about 18 to 25 years old.

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