Dallas Police officers are in the process of interviewing registered sex offenders in and around Lake Highlands, hoping to find at least one suspect in a string of sexual assaults that have occurred in the neighborhood in the past month, Chief David Brown said this afternoon. Bicycle and mounted officers have taken over the neighborhood, providing the dual benefit of searching for suspects and protecting the residents.
Brown stressed that police believe they already have a suspect in the Feb. 22 assault, a serial felon who is in jail for at least a half-dozen separate incidents.
Fernando Munoz was arrested in Lewisville on March 1 on three outstanding warrants, and later linked to three sexual assaults between 2008 and 2010. Brown said Munoz is a “strong suspect” in the Feb. 22 account, and is awaiting DNA evidence before charges are filed. That still leaves the two other sexual assaults in the neighborhood: one on March 15, and one this morning. In both cases, Brown said, the suspect was described as a Hispanic man who spoke English with a Spanish accent, but the descriptions of their body types varied. Police are keeping the possibility open that two men are responsible for the attacks, but Brown also conceded that sometimes victims’ descriptions of assailants can vary.
“We don’t want to rule out the possibility that these victims are describing the same guy, but in different ways,” he said.
The suspect in this morning’s attack may have been scratched by the victim, and tips should be called in to 214-670-4415. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.
As for the lockdown of Lake Highlands-area schools this morning, police officials said Richardson ISD officials were monitoring the police activity, and pro-actively decided to take the precaution.
