Tulsa Police looking for a rape suspect

Tulsa Police are investigating the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. They say the man entered the girl's apartment through an unlocked window around three Wednesday morning. It happened at the

Wednesday, April 20th 2005, 10:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police are investigating the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. They say the man entered the girl's apartment through an unlocked window around three Wednesday morning. It happened at the Meadows Apartments in east Tulsa.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says with the nice weather and the cool evenings, it might be tempting to leave the window open. But with windows close to the ground especially, police say you just can't take the chance. After 18 years living in the complex near 31st and Garnett, Vera Machado isn't sure she feels as safe as she did in the past. "And I'm kind of worried because I have a teenager. She's 17, going on 18, and we've lived here for 18 years, but I'm very surprised that something like that is happening."

The good news is that police are sure the suspect, described as a skinny, black male, is not this serial rapist they've been seeking for the past few months, who is stockier with a lighter complexion.

The bad news is that there might be a new pattern emerging. Besides Wednesday morning's attack at 31st and Garnett, there have been two other incidents in the past week. One at 31st and 129th East Avenue where a suspect struggled with a woman and took her purse and at 31st and 145th East Avenue, which police describe as sexual battery, less serious than sexual assault. Both at apartments and both times the suspect went through an unlocked window.

Tulsa Police Captain Tracie Crocker: "Could be coincidence, we don't want to overlook it by any means, there are some similarities we're going to look at, but it could be chance too." What shouldn't be left to chance, Tulsa Police say, are unlocked windows. "People need to realize that they can be a victim and they need to take that extra precaution to make sure their windows are locked and their doors are locked. They need to understand it can happen here, it does happen here."

Vera Machado: "The windows and doors should be closed all the time, because everything's too low and they should be closed."

The only description of the suspect is a skinny, black male. They say this is "not" the serial rapist they've been looking for the past few months.