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How Fayetteville PD Used Sunglasses To Nab Trail Assault Suspect

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — Fayetteville detectives used a swab from a pair of sunglasses to obtain DNA that led them to the arrest of a man suspected of assaul...

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- Fayetteville detectives used a swab from a pair of sunglasses to obtain DNA that led them to the arrest of a man suspected of assaulting a woman on the paved trail around Lake Fayetteville, according to an arrest warrant.

The DNA profile matched that of convicted sex offender Richard Leroy Turner, 33, of Lowell, the warrant states. Turner was arrested Wednesday (Nov. 11) and is being held at the Washington County Detention Center on $100,000 bond, according to jail records.

Turner is now facing charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and second-degree battery, according to police. His arraignment has been scheduled for Dec. 2, jail records show.

Turner pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl in July, 2002 when he was 20-years-old. According to the Arkansas sex offender registry, Turner was registered as a level two sex offender on a scale of one being the least dangerous and four being the most dangerous.

A woman reported that she was assaulted by a white male in his 30s on Sept. 13 while jogging on the Lake Fayetteville pedestrian trail. She reported the man punched her, strangled her and dragged her into the bushes, but she was able to escape and call for help. The victim told detectives the suspect said he had to take her because "the black" had his daughter and they had guns and were still in the area, according to police documents.

The suspect asked the victim if he could use her phone to call his wife, but the woman refused and called her boyfriend instead, the documents state. Eventually the victim asked the suspect where the trail was and he walked her back to it, then quickly left, according to the documents.

At the scene, detectives found the victim's headband and earbuds just off the trail, as well as a pair of men's sunglasses, according to Turner's arrest warrant. Detectives swabbed the sunglasses and got a DNA match in a database of known offenders, the warrant states.

The victim also told police the man who assaulted her had a ring with the word "DAD" on it, according to the warrant. When Turner was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on Sept. 3 in an unrelated case, a ring with the word "DAD" was included in his possessions, the warrant states.

Another woman reported a man matching Turner's physical description also tried to grab her on Sept. 13 while she was jogging, according to the warrant. She told another person on the trail what had happened, that person followed the suspect and watched him get into a red pickup truck with faded paint, the warrant states. A map search of Turner's last known address showed a red pickup truck with faded paint in the driveway, according to the warrant.

At the time of his arrest Turner was on probation and had failed to report to his probation officer, the warrant states.

Following this arrest, Sgt. Craig Stout with the Fayetteville Police Department said Turner's sex offender level may change.

"It is very possible to anticipate that because he is on probation that the Arkansas Department of Corrections may want to reevaluate his level," he said.

Sheri Flynn, a SOCNA Administrator at the ADOC, agrees.

"If someone is only interested in sexually assaulting and raping an adult male or female, then if that's the only way that they can achieve sexual gratification, then yes they are more likely to re-offend," she said.

Stout said Fayetteville officers do regular check ups to make sure sex offenders have the same address and there are programs sex offenders can go through to get counseling.

"Fayetteville has really been a leader in the monitoring and tracking of sex offenders," Stout said.

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