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Third Sexual Assault In Lake Highlands

KERA News

Police are investigating a third sexual assault in Northeast Dallas. The most recent took place only a few blocks away from the previous two other rapes in the Lake Highlands neighborhood. 

Police Chief David Brown expects to confirm this week that Fernando Munoz, who was arrested March 1st, is responsible for the first of the three rapes. But, that still leaves open the two more recent sexual assaults. 

Brown says the victims have two different descriptions for their attackers -- "the suspect on the march 15th offense is described as a Latin male in their twenties, 5’8,  rounded chubby face, clean shaven," Brown says, "while the suspect on the march 19th offense is described as light skinned and thin mustache, not clean shaven.”

Police say it is possible there is only one perpetrator and that the victims just described him differently, but police are not ruling anything out the possibility of multiple suspects. Brown says in the latest assault, which took place on Aldwick Drive, the victim was able to scratch the attacker. He is asking the public to call a tip line, 214-670-4415, with any information. 

"If you know a Latin male in his twenties, light skin, thin build, thin mustache who speaks English with a Spanish accent and wears a grey hoodie, that has a scratch today," Brown says, "That person is of interest to us. ”

There are extra patrol and bike officers in Lake Highlands, and Brown says there’s an operation to contact all registered sex offenders in Dallas who fit the above description. 

Lauren Silverman was the Health, Science & Technology reporter/blogger at KERA News. She was also the primary backup host for KERA’s Think and the statewide newsmagazine  Texas Standard. In 2016, Lauren was recognized as Texas Health Journalist of the Year by the Texas Medical Association. She was part of the Peabody Award-winning team that covered Ebola for NPR in 2014. She also hosted "Surviving Ebola," a special that won Best Long Documentary honors from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI). And she's won a number of regional awards, including an honorable mention for Edward R. Murrow award (for her project “The Broken Hip”), as well as the Texas Veterans Commission’s Excellence in Media Awards in the radio category.