Dundee assault linked to others?

A weekend sexual assault could be linked to more than a dozen similar crimes that have occurred in midtown Omaha and other locations since March 2008.

On Saturday, a 21-year-old woman told police she was raped in her Dundee apartment by a short and stocky man with short hair and a medium complexion. Family members of the victim later said she identified the suspect in a photo lineup, though police haven't publicly identified any suspects and say the investigation is ongoing.

The woman reported that the man entered her third-floor apartment near 49th and Underwood while she was sleeping. She said the man threatened that he would kill her.

Police said several similarities between Saturday's case and previous incidents indicate the cases likely are related. "It sure looks like it could be," said Lt. Darci Tierney of the Omaha Police Department.

In March, the rape of a woman near 37th and Marcy Streets prompted police to review earlier reports of a peeping tom, burglar and sexual predator. That woman, 66, told police that a stocky man about 5-foot-8 and wearing dark clothes entered her apartment through the front door, attacked her and sexually assaulted her.

Police say the woman's description of the suspect and other details of the crime had similarities to those in reports from last year. Police linked nearly a dozen cases last year to a suspect whom they described as having dark skin and an athletic, 5-foot-8 build. He was thought to be in his 20s or early 30s.

That man was said to be preying on women in midtown between March and September, but he also was thought to have struck outside that area, including a couple of times in south Omaha, Tierney said. Incidents in the areas of 99th and Y Streets and 69th and Pacific Streets also may be connected, police said. Both of those cases involved sexual misconduct.

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