Fayetteville police announced Wednesday that a serial rape suspect has been arrested for a string of sexual assaults around the Ramsey Street corridor that were reported in the city between 2006 and 2008.
Darold Wayne Bowden, 43, of Linden, was being held at the Cumberland County Jail in lieu of a $18.8 million bond, police said during a press conference. Bowden was expected to make a first appearance in court on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
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Police said they used DNA to link Bowden to a series of unsolved sexual assaults that occurred near North Fayetteville Street and Ramsey Street between March 2006 and January 2008. The sexual assaults instilled fear among residents in the area who were afraid of becoming victims.
"Our victims are important to us and we're going to do whatever it takes to get them justice," said police Lt. John Somerindyke, who said the department devoted "thousands of hours" to investigate and solve the crimes.
WRAL News has tracked this case since March 2006, which is when two sexual assaults were reported within days of each other at the Kings Grant Condominiums on Ramsey Street.
The rapes happened at several other apartment complexes, including Heather Ridge Apartments.
One victim was jogging near Northwood Temple on Ramsey Street when she was tackled from behind.
"I was running seven-minute miles and he came from behind and just hit me like a Mac truck," said one of the victims who WRAL News is not identifying because she was the victim of a sex crime. She said Wednesday that Bowden raped her in the woods one year ago on Thursday.
She said she is amazed and thankful that the DNA from the suspect 12 years ago led to his arrest..
The Fayetteville Police Department's cold case unit revived public attention about the case in December 2016, saying they would not give up.
Police said Bowden had been in trouble in the past, having been arrested for a series of petty crimes. Investigators released a series of mug shots taken of Bowden during the years so as to show any would-be victims during the years what he looked like at the time. The pictures date back to January 2003 and include images that taken during and immediately after his arrest by Fayetteville police.
Investigators said previously that consistent DNA at crime scenes led authorities to suspect that one man, dubbed as the “Ramsey Street Rapist,” was responsible for all six reported rape cases.
Using the DNA, several composite sketches were created in attempt to identify and locate the suspect.
It was not immediately clear how police were able to identify and track Bowden.
Several of his victims told authorities that the suspect had musky breath and body odor and that he smelled of machinery oil.
He wore various hoodie-type shirts during five of the six rapes, including a dark-colored pull-over hooded style sweatshirt with the Orange County Choppers logo on the front and a navy blue or dark green hooded sweatshirt with "Notre Dame" written across the chest.
Cumberland District Attorney Billy Porter said: "If you commit any crime in our city or in our county, whether you break into a house, rob someone or sexually assault someone or kill someone, we're not going to stop" until we bring that person to justice.