Police: Attacker of 2 in jail

Joggers assaulted same day on trail

 Richard Turner
Richard Turner

FAYETTEVILLE -- A convicted sex offender suspected of attacking a woman jogging on Lake Fayetteville Trail in September also attacked another woman on the trail the same day, police said.

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Fayetteville police arrested Richard Leroy Turner, 33, of 802 Jeffery Place in Lowell on Wednesday on suspicion of kidnapping, aggravated assault and second-degree battery.

At a glance

Police arrested Richard Leroy Turner, 33, of 802 Jeffery Place in Lowell on Wednesday in connection with kidnapping, aggravated assault and second-degree battery.

Source: Staff Report

Police spokesman Sgt. Craig Stout said DNA evidence found on sunglasses at the crime scene led police to Turner.

April Robertson, 27, of Springdale reported the assault at 2:22 p.m. Sept. 13, normally a busy time of day on the heavily used public trail, officials said previously. Attacks on the trail are atypical, Stout said.

Robertson is a reporter for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

She told police she was jogging alone near Crossover Road, north of the Botanical Gardens, when a man ran up behind her and tackled her, according to an arrest affidavit from Washington County Circuit Court. The man punched Robertson in the head and face, police said.

Robertson told police she tried to scream for help, but the man put his hand over her mouth and around her throat and squeezed until she struggled to breathe. He then dragged Robertson off the trail and into thick vegetation, according to the affidavit.

Police said Robertson had scratches on her arms, legs and back consistent with "being dragged through vegetation." She also had swelling on her face.

Once Robertson and her attacker were out of sight, the man pinned Robertson to the ground and said there were "blacks" who "had guns" in the woods, according to the affidavit. Robertson said the man told her that he abducted her because the "blacks" were going "to get her too if she had continued on the trail."

The man then asked to use Robertson's phone, but she refused and called her boyfriend, according to the affidavit. Robertson's boyfriend told her to get back to the trail, the report shows.

Robertson said she asked the man where the trail was, and he walked her back to it. After they reached the trail, the man quickly walked away from Robertson, who called 911, according to the affidavit.

Robertson told police that her attacker wore sunglasses and had a large ring inscribed with "Dad" on the front. Police said they found the sunglasses in brush near Robertson's ear buds and headband, which the report shows she lost during the struggle.

Swabs were taken from the sunglasses and submitted to the state Crime Laboratory, police said. DNA was collected and compared with a database of known offenders and matched a sample from Turner, Stout said.

Turner's DNA was in a database because he had been convicted of sexual assault in a 2002 case involving a 13-year-old girl, Stout said.

Turner was out on probation but failed to report to his probation officer, the affidavit said.

Stout said DNA evidence was enough to arrest Turner, but he added that police also had other evidence.

Around Sept. 9, Turner had been booked into the Washington County jail and had a ring with him like the one Robertson described, according to the affidavit. Robertson had also described a man who looked like Turner, police said.

The same day Robertson was attacked, another woman jogger on the same trail ran away from a man who attacked her about 6 a.m., according to the report. The woman, who was not named by police, told another person walking on the trail. That person saw the man get into a red truck with faded paint, according to the affidavit.

Police said that a map search of Turner's last known address showed a red truck with faded paint in the driveway.

Turner was at the Washington County jail Friday in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Metro on 11/14/2015

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