Charges filed in attacks on Johnston County women

A Johnston County man has been charged with kidnapping two women in recent months and sexually assaulting one of them, authorities said Tuesday.

Daniel Robert Muller, 24, of 1097 Black Angus Drive, was charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count each of first-degree sexual assault and attempted first-degree sexual assault. He was being held Tuesday in the Johnston County jail under a $350,000 bond.

A woman was found wandering the streets of Selma on July 18, and authorities determined she had been assaulted after accepting a ride from a man driving a light-colored, four-door Jeep. Once the woman was inside the vehicle, authorities said, the man displayed a weapon and drove her to a secluded area in Selma, where she was sexually assaulted.

During the investigation, authorities learned a similar incident occurred on May 25 in which a woman accepted a ride from a man but fled from his vehicle after he displayed a weapon and drove to a secluded area in Smithfield.

Authorities identified Muller as a suspect in the cases, and he surrendered on Saturday.

Raleigh Fire Chief John McGrath said Muller was hired as a recruit for the fire department on May 26 but that officials were in the process of dismissing him from the program because he had missed class time.