Authorities: Only one North Charleston assault linked to others in city

The rape of a woman near Park Circle last year is the only North Charleston case tied so far to a series of burglaries and sexual assaults downtown, police said today.

The incident happened on Mosstree Road shortly after midnight on June 8, 2007. A police report said that the woman woke up in bed when a man started pulling on her legs. She described the man as tall with facial hair and a big stomach.

"So far, we haven't been able to link him to any more of the sexual assaults that happened in our city," said Spencer Pryor, the department's public information officer.

Authorities have said that evidence connects the North Charleston attack to a June 14 incident in which a woman was raped after a man broke into her home on Charleston's Radcliffe Street during the early morning. Police have chosen not to disclose the specific type of physical evidence that provided the link because they want to protect the investigation, Pryor said.

On Tuesday, detectives from both agencies met to discuss the cases. Charleston police also are investigating a similar case from May 27 in which a man broke into a Smith Street apartment and tried to sexually assault a woman inside.

Additionally, city police have reported taking a close look at two other burglaries in the downtown area last year in light of the other cases. They have not said where or when those incidents occurred, or whether they involved an assault.

Check back with Charleston.net later today for more details.