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Police arrest NC man accused of meeting women online to rape them, say he could have victims across the US

Police say he may have victims in other jurisdictions and agencies as far away as California.

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Michael Brandon Shinn, 29, of Sherrills Ford
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Police arrested a North Carolina man Wednesday accused of taking women he met online to a remote parking lot to rape them.

The Mooresville Police Department arrested Michael Brandon Shinn, 29, from Sherrills Ford, and charged him with two counts of second-degree forcible rape and one count of second-degree forcible sex offense.

The police department received a call from a woman who said she was assaulted by Shinn at a remote parking lot along River Highway in Mooresville. She said she met Shinn online and then agreed to meet him on June 16, according to police. The woman said after Shinn assaulted her he left her in the remote parking lot without her car or cell phone.

Mooresville police were able to track Shinn down using information from the 911 caller and a description of his vehicle, according to a Facebook post by the police department. During their investigation, detectives with the Huntersville Police Department told the Mooresville police that there had been a second rape reported in their jurisdiction they believed was connected to Shinn.

A woman was hospitalized in Huntersville after she described a similar assault and gave investigators the same description of her attacker's car — a silver Dodge charger with a black stripe on the side, authorities said.

The woman hospitalized in Huntersville said she also met Shinn online and agreed to meet up with him. She said Shinn drove her to the same remote parking lot, assaulted her in the same way, and left her in the parking lot, police said.

Police say this is the car Micheal Brandon Shinn, the alleged rapist, used to drive women to a remote parking lot and then attack them.

That was enough evidence for police to obtain warrants for Shinn's arrest, according to the Mooresville Police Department.

As detectives continued their investigation, they found evidence that Shinn may be involved in similar rapes in other jurisdictions, the Mooresville Police Department wrote on Facebook.

"MPD detectives are working with multiple surrounding agencies, who have similar cases involving the suspect, and agencies as far away as California, where authorities have indicated to detectives that the suspect may have committed similar crimes, to locate and identify other possible victims that the suspect may have sexually assaulted," the department wrote on Facebook.

Shinn was being held at the Iredell County Detention Center under a $600,000 bond.

Police encourage anyone who may "have been a victim of or had contact with this suspect" to contact Mooresville Police Department Detective Saladino at 704-664-3311.

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