August 22, 2007

Jose Rivera, the man charged in connection with the three sexual assaults (two in East Charlotte, one in Dilworth) that occurred in 2004 and 2005, is in the Mecklenburg County Jail.  He was returned to Charlotte yesterday and detectives are interviewing him today.  

Rivera was being held in Atlanta where he had been awaiting deportation on a re-entry violation. After CMPD detectives connected Rivera to these cases forensically, they obtained warrants for Rivera's arrest on Friday, July 27, 2007. Those warrants enabled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop deportation proceedings. Since then, the U.S. Attorney, ICE and the U.S. Marshal's were working to get Rivera transported back to Charlotte.  "It is a complicated case and we appreciate all of the cooperation these agencies provided," says CMPD Detective Troy Armstrong. "Because of their efforts, we have the suspect back in local custody and are moving forward with the case."  

Detectives will be working with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office to prepare the case for trial.

Case Summaries:

• April 2, 2004—a 32-year-old woman told police a stranger talked his way into her apartment off Eastway Drive around 10:45 a.m. Once inside he pulled out a handgun and sexually assaulted her.
• Feb. 19, 2005—a 41-year-old woman told police a man overpowered her in the common area outside apartments on Woodway Hills Drive off Independence Boulevard around 4:30 a.m. He sexually assaulted her using a sharp instrument as a weapon. 
• Sept. 25, 2005—a female jogger told police a man grabbed her and threatened her with a screwdriver as she ran along East Boulevard in the Dilworth neighborhood around 7 a.m. The woman said the man pulled her behind a building near Springdale Avenue and sexually assaulted her. He was wearing only red underwear and a white cloth covered much of his face.