Arrest Made In Rapes

Video From Press Conference | Map: Suspect's Home

TAMPA - The terror for one northeast Tampa neighborhood is over, authorities say.

DNA lab results led Hillsborough County deputies on Friday to arrest a serial rape suspect they say is responsible for at least seven attacks on single black mothers in the same part of town since 2003.

Deputies apprehended Jerrod Pass, 38, at 10:15 p.m. - seven hours after crime lab results at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tied him to a June 14th attack at 15th Street and 127th Avenue, sheriff's Capt. J.R. Burton said at a late Saturday morning news conference.

Jerrod Pass

Pass was walking at 15th Street and Fletcher Avenue and was taken into custody without incident, Burton said.

He is charged with two counts of armed sexual battery and one count of armed burglary in connection with the June 14 rape.

The arrest report said Pass is from Clewiston. Burton said Pass told detectives he'd been staying with friends, moving from place-to-place over the years. His arrest report shows he worked as a cook at Wild Wing Café, 9210 Anderson Road.

With the arrest warrant in hand, deputies went to the restaurant Friday and asked staff where Pass typically hung out, Burton said.

DNA evidence has linked six rapes and one attempted rape to the same man, according to the sheriff's office and Tampa police. The attacks have occurred about two miles west of the USF campus, east of Nebraska Avenue between Bearss and 93rd avenues.

The rapist targeted mostly adult women, ages 24 to 37, who were at home late at night or early in the morning. He entered through a window while his victims were asleep, authorities have said.
Although none of the attacks occurred at USF, university police issued an e-mail alert to students earlier this month. It advised them to be cautious in light of the rapes, the most recent of which happened Aug. 19, investigators say.

Two deputies on patrol encountered Pass on Aug. 28 while he was out walking on 14th Street, near Lexington Avenue, at 3 a.m., Burton said. Pass matched the general description of the rapist, and he was questioned by a detective who took a cheek swab for DNA analysis.

At the time, there was nothing about Pass to indicate to detectives that he was their man, Burton said. He fit the description and had the distinctive scar on his left arm and a foul odor that victims had described. But five of 50 other men questioned by deputies also had scars or marks on their left arms and submitted DNA samples. A total of 10 men submitted DNA samples.

The rapes took place between 2 and 6 a.m., and so authorities now believe that when they first encountered Pass on Aug. 28 at 3 a.m., he was possibly looking to attack another victim that night, Burton said.

"It was his witching hour," he said.