Atlanta police have arrested a man accused of breaking into a woman’s apartment in late May and sexually assaulting her.
Demetrius Abercrombie, 42, was arrested at work Tuesday and charged with rape, sodomy, kidnapping, false imprisonment and burglary, Atlanta police spokesman Officer Jarius Daugherty said.
The alleged attack took place May 31 at the Colonial Square Apartments on Old Hapeville Road in southwest Atlanta between 4 and 5 a.m., police said previously.
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On June 4, police returned to the home after receiving a call about a burglary, Daugherty said. The woman told officers she had been away from the home since her attack and that during that time someone broke in and stole electronics.
Police were able to link the burglary to Abercrombie through fingerprints left at the scene, and an investigator realized he matched the description the woman gave of her attacker.
Police said Abercrombie has “an extensive arrest history” that includes charges of rape in 2005 and burglary in 2012.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
In 2008, Abercrombie pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, the result of a 2005 incident involving the mother of his infant child, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said.
He was initially charged with rape and burglary in the case, but those charges were dismissed after the alleged victim recanted her initial statement to police and refused to cooperate with the investigation, the DA’s office said.
Abercrombie entered into a negotiated plea on the false imprisonment charge and was sentenced to five years behind bars, but his sentence was commuted to time served with the remaining four years and 11 months on probation.
At a news conference last week, Lt. Jeff Baxter said the rape suspect told the woman, who is in her mid-20s, that he was recently released from prison.
“We’re hoping to be able to match some DNA that he may have surrendered during his prison stay with the DNA that we collected at the scene,” Baxter told reporters. “We want him off the streets as quickly as possible.”
Abercrombie remains held without bond at the Fulton County Jail.
