D.C. Man May Be Linked to 5 Assaults

A District man was charged last night in connection with the sexual assault of a woman who was abducted in the District and taken to Prince George's County early yesterday. Police are investigating whether the man may be linked to at least five other sex assaults.

In each incident, a man kidnapped a woman at gunpoint, forced her to drive to Prince George's and sexually assaulted her in her vehicle before returning the woman to the site of the abduction, police said.

Last night, police in the District charged Paul David Jackson, 36, with carjacking while armed in connection with the most recent incident. Soon after, Prince George's County authorities issued a warrant charging Jackson with first degree rape in the same case.

In the District, Jackson, of the 1900 block of Savannah Street SE, also was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine in an unrelated case. He is to be arraigned today in D.C. Superior Court.

District police said the most recent incident began shortly after midnight yesterday, when a woman was abducted as she got into her car in the 2000 block of Savannah Terrace SE.

The man, who had a handgun, forced her into the passenger seat and drove to several areas of Prince George's and sexually assaulted her in the vehicle. He then drove the victim back to the District, got out of the car and fled, police said.

"It's very similar to the other attacks," Cpl. Diane Richardson of the Prince George's County police said before Jackson was charged. A task force of officers from the District and Prince George's was established two weeks ago to investigate the cases.

D.C. police Capt. Michael Reese said detectives kept tabs on Jackson for several hours after the most recent attack, though he would not say why.

Prince George's police were relieved that a suspect was in custody, Richardson said, but she added that "we still have a lot of work ahead of us" in possibly connecting Jackson to the other sex assaults.

Police described the attacker in the five assaults as a black man in his 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches and weighing about 170 pounds. In each incident, the man has held a handgun and concealed his face with a hat or ski mask, authorities said.

The first of the five cases occurred Oct. 8, when a man abducted a woman in the 2400 block of Darel Drive and sexually assaulted her around 52nd Avenue in Prince George's, near Hyattsville.

The second attack occurred Oct. 20, when a man abducted a woman in the 700 block of Kenilworth Avenue in the District and sexually assaulted her in the Riverdale Park area.

The third occurred Oct. 27, when a man kidnapped a woman about 1 a.m. as she left a nightclub in Southwest Washington. The man then forced her at gunpoint to drive him to an apartment complex in the Hyattsville area.

The fourth incident occurred Nov. 7, when a man abducted a woman while she was getting out of her car in the 3300 block of Curtis Drive in Temple Hills, police said. The man forced her to the passenger side of the car and drove her to different locations where he sexually assaulted her, police said.

Authorities have said they believe the same man may have sexually assaulted two additional women, one in August and the other in early October, Richardson said.

Staff writer Allison Klein contributed to this report.