DNA Links Claremore Man To Serial Rape Investigation, Police Say

Detectives arrested a man connected to a serial rape investigation Monday night.

Tulsa sex crimes detectives said DNA tied one man to five rapes over the past 18 months - four of them were in Tulsa, one was in Rogers County.

Police said he operated with a playbook - knowing how he was going to pick his victims, what he was going to do once he had his victims and even had a certain order he did it in.

They said he would find them walking in east Tulsa, pull up and offer them a ride; in three of the cases, he told them he was a police officer.

Sergeant Brian Carlisle said, "He would tell them, ‘Hey, I'm a police officer, don't bother reporting this, we all stick together. Nothing is going to happen.’"

Police said the first attack was in May of 2014, then, another one happened two months later and it was six months before the third one.

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DNA from all three cases told police it was the same rapist, but they didn't have a name.

Carlisle said, "At that point and time, we had three cases and then the trail kinda went cold for a while."

Then, a woman got picked up in July of this year and was driven to Rogers County and raped. There were a lot of similarities and police suspected it was the same man, but this time he beat the woman.

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That victim created a composite sketch for police, but didn't produce any specific tips.

Then, DNA proved it was the same guy.

Then, just two months ago, there was a fifth attack, and police started surveillance patrols in east Tulsa.

"At that point it became a waiting game and a matter of being persistent," Carlisle said.

That persistence paid off when, Monday night, they spotted a man who fit the description and was driving the same type of truck.

After they interviewed Shawn Freeman, they said he admitted to two of the cases and they booked him on four rapes and kidnappings and three counts of impersonating an officer.

Police said it's very common in rape cases for them to go unreported. They hope now that the suspect's picture is out there, if other women have been victimized by him, they'll be willing to come forward and report it.