Fayetteville woman raped in apartment

A woman reported that a man kicked open the door to her apartment in the Brittany Place complex on Ashbrook Court shortly after 1 a.m. and raped her. No description of the assailant was available.

The woman was sleeping on her couch when the man broke in, according to a friend of hers. He stole the woman's cell phone so she couldn't call 911, the friend said.

"This is not the first time he's done this. He's very experienced. He knows what he's doing," said the friend, who asked not to be identified. "If he's watching this, I want him to know we're not going to stop until we find you."

Investigators said they haven't determined whether the incident is linked to a series of burglaries and sexual assaults that occurred in Fayetteville and Hope Mills between June 2009 and January. In those cases, women reported that a man broke into their apartments late at night while they were alone and attacked them.

Dan Grubb, spokesman for the Fayetteville Police Department, said investigators are looking for a possible connection in the cases.

"I'm sure that's first and foremost what these detectives are going to look at in this case," Grubb said.

Police don't believe the latest incident is related to several Peeping Tom cases and a sexual assault last month that happened off Bingham Drive. That neighborhood is about 3 miles from Montclair.

Anyone with information about the Tuesday incident is asked to call Fayetteville police at 910-433-1856 or 910-483-TIPS.