Crime & Safety
East Coast Rapist Suspect to be Extradited to PWC
The suspect in the East Coast Rapist case will be extradited to Prince William County from Connecticut.
The man suspected of committing a series of rapes along the East Coast, including a 2009 attack on three teenagers in Dale City, will be sent to Prince William County to face trial.
Aaron Thomas, who was arrested in New Haven, Conn. in March, of two counts of rape, abduction, and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in the first degree. He was also charged in New Haven with sexual assault in the first degree, but Prince William County prosecutor Paul Ebert petitioned to have Thomas returned to Virginia as soon as possible.
A judge on Monday said the extradition would continue after Thomas's public defender withdrew a challenge to the extradition. Thomas faces potential life sentences if convicted in Prince William.
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Authorities say that DNA has tied Thomas to a series of attacks on 17 women, including an attack on three teenage girls who were trick-or-treating in Dale City on Halloween night in 2009.
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