Aaron Thomas, 39, from New Haven, Connecticut was arrested on March 4, 2011 after authorities were able to match DNA from one of his discarded cigarettes to crimes committed throughout the east coast. Aaron Thomas aka The East Coast Rapist was detained after someone that knew him, tipped authorities of his current location. The Washington Post stated that Thomas was linked by genetic evidence to a series of rapes and other attacks on women that began in Maryland in 1997 and continued on to Virginia, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Thomas is described as a cold hearted and fearless predator that carefully stocked his female victims and when the time was right he would attack them with a fake gun or other dangerous weapons forcing them to a secluded area where he would then rape them. His rape history, which lasted a long twelve years and included about seventeen women from the age range of sixteen to forty six years old, came to an end after long countless hours spent by four different states were able to prove that his DNA matched the many committed crimes. After Thomas made a court appearance on a larceny charge in the New Haven area, police were able to recover a cigarette butt discarded by Thomas during a court break which provided the necessary DNA to pin him to the crimes. Thomas’ rape history began in the state of Maryland on Wednesday, February 19, 1997. The victim, a twenty five year old woman, stated that the attacker was riding a black bicycle when he approached her as she was walking home from work that evening. The victim stated that the East Coast Rapist sparked a conversation then pulled a gun on her forcing her into a nearby wooded area where he was able to rape her then flee the scene on his bicycle. A few months later, on August of 1997, Thomas was pinned to a rape that was committed behind a Popeye’s restaurant. The victim, also a young black female, was forced with a serrated blade into a secluded area where she was raped by the East Coast Rapist. In the summer of 1998, the East Coast Rapist made another appearance where he took his crime a step further and involved a minor. On the night of July 3, 1998, a sixteen year old girl and eighteen year old woman were walking home that night when they were passed by Thomas while he was riding his bicycle. He approached them by foot later down the road where he was able to threaten them with a broken bottle and force them into a nearby secluded wooded area. He managed to rape the sixteen year old girl, and forced the other female present to witness the attack then was able to flee after his horrible attack. Two years later, on August 16, 2001, Thomas made a double attack on two young women from Maryland. The victims stated that at about 10 pm they were headed home from the Marlow Heights shopping center, when they were approached by Thomas who demanded money from them. He then pulled out a gun on the victims and forced them into a nearby wooded area where he was able to rape both of the females, making this the first case where there would be two victims raped in the same incident. At the end of the year, in Fairfax, Virginia he turned a woman’s evening into a terrible nightmare. The victim stated that at about 7pm, while she waited for the bus to arrive she was approached by a man that was smoking an asked her if she knew when the next bus was coming. He then threatened her with a knife forcing her into a nearby apartment complex where he raped her outside by some near shrubs. The victim recalls how Thomas, while pulling her clothes off, shouted at her to stop shaking, and that if he got AIDS or if she got pregnant he would come for her. The victim believes she later encountered him while at work as Thomas made the attempt to steal baby clothes. The crimes discussed above, where some of the horrific events that Aaron Thomas was able to get away from and live with for a long period of time. Due to his cold fast way of retrieving from the crime scenes and because of the areas where the crimes were committed it was nearly impossible to identify him as the suspect. Like every criminal, Aaron Thomas also committed crimes where he made mistakes and left strong evidence that tied him as the main suspect. On November 20, 2000, in the Northern Virginia area Thomas left behind some of the first DNA available to link him to all the other cases. During that evening, at around 6pm, a woman was attacked on her front steps by Thomas who walked up to her asking for directions. The victim described that Thomas grabbed her and put her in a headlock with the attempt to rob her. At the time, the victim was a military officer and was able to fight him back, forcing Thomas to release the knife and flee. The knife blade was able to provide some DNA that was used to link him to this rape attempt and all the other cases. Aaron Thomas aka The East Coast Rapist would mess up once again and provide DNA evidence. Almost six years later, on November of 2006 at around 5pm, while an 11 year old girl was in her living room in Cranston, RI doing homework, she was able to see a man poke his face through an open door. She proceeded to scream and it encouraged Thomas to flee the scene of the crime. Later, the police were able to find semen near the rear deck which was kept and later used as significant case evidence. In 2009, The East Coast Rapist committed his last know of crime and was nearly caught. Eight years after his initial attack in the D.C. Metro Area he approached three young teenage girls that were headed home after a long night of trick or treating on Halloween night. He used a gun as the weapon of choice to force the girls into a wooded ravine were he raped the two older girls and forced the youngest one to watch the whole attack. The teenager was able to use her cell phone to text her mother providing information of the attack and asking for help. Aaron Thomas, once again, was able to flee the scene as the police closed in on him nearly capturing him while in action. The search for this monster continued as authorities were out working hard making the successful retrieval of Aaron Thomas. The search went as far as putting up electronic billboards throughout the states where many of the attacks had occurred and even in some of the neighboring states. The day finally came, after an anonymous tip was generated from a publicity campaign combined with a relatively new police database used by the Prince George’s County police department in Maryland and Thomas was under the scope of the law. After his capture a Connecticut judge agreed to send Aaron Thomas back to Virginia as DNA was able to confirm his involvement for many rapes and other attacks on about 17 women from Virginia to Connecticut over the span of a decade. After his confession to the Halloween rapes and some incriminating statements made by Thomas to a marshal such as asking, “Why haven’t you picked me up sooner?” and “What took you so long to get me”, the Prince William County Court felt as the evidence was pretty strong and would hold great in the court of law to convict him with the charges pending. Even after an attempted suicide while in the New Haven, Connecticut jail and an incident where Thomas was reported to smear feces all over his face he was found competent by the judge to stand trial after receiving a mental health report from a professional psychologist who came to the conclusion that he was simulating insanity to avoid any punishment. Things only got worse for Thomas after the judge heard the graphic and terrible testimony given by the three women from the Halloween incident and he decided that the case should be sent to a grand jury, if convicted, Thomas will and should spend the rest of his life in prison.