He tricked Alabama college students by posing as maintenance worker, then raped them, police said; now he’s been captured after 13 years on the run
Published 2:21 pm Wednesday, August 31, 2022
A man police say posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to female University of Alabama students’ apartment in order to rape them has been arrested, police said this week, after 13 years on the run.
Tuscaloosa police reported the arrest of Alexander Velazquez-Hernandez on charges of rape, burglary, sodomy, sexual abuse and attempted burglary.
Police said between July 2008 and March 2009 Velazquez-Hernandez raped multiple University of Alabama students living in a Reed Street apartment.
Investigators levied the charges in June 2009, but remained on the run until this week. He was found hiding in Mexico.
Investigators said Velazquez-Hernandez posed as an apartment maintenance worker to trick the young women into allowing him into their apartments. Once there, if he determined they were alone, he would rape them.
Due to his flight risk, police said he was being held without bond.