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Police: Suspect in 2 violent sexual assaults captured through tracker on woman’s stolen smartphone

Two Atlanta women describe nearly identical, terrifying sexual assaults, in separate incidents in May.

ATLANTA — A man suspected of trying to rape two women in Atlanta, in separate incidents in the past month, is now in the Fulton County Jail, after, police say, the smartphone that he stole from one of the women gave him away.

The women’s descriptions of the attacks are terrifying and almost identical. The latest one was this past Thursday morning, on May 20, in the Garden Hills neighborhood in northeast Atlanta.

A woman was walking her dog near her home, and as she was going back inside she saw a man walking from Peachtree Road, along her street, in her direction.

Then, Atlanta police say she told them she was blindsided.

She told police that, as the security gate was closing behind her, the man attacked her and forced her inside her garage and onto the floor, tearing off her clothes, and trying to choke and rape her.

She fought back. He ran away, taking her smartphone with him.

Then, according to police, the woman’s daughter used the location tracker on the phone, which led police to Garden Hills Park about a mile away.

And they say they found 31-year-old Laquai Barrett in the restroom, with the woman’s cell phone. 

According to police, they were then able to connect Barrett to an almost identical attempted rape in Midtown Atlanta, on May 3.

Police said both women identified Barrett as the man who attacked them, and that Barrett has confessed to the May 20 attack, so far.

11Alive is working to find out if Atlanta police consider Barrett a suspect in any other sexual assaults.

2020 vs. 2021 Year To Date

Atlanta crime stats do not list a specific category for attempted rape, but they do show that in Police Zone 2, where Garden Hills is located, and in Police Zone 5, where Midtown is located, rapes and aggravated assaults are up, along with other violent crimes, so far in 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. Below is a look at those case statistics.

Rape

ZONE 2 (Including Garden Hills)
2021 Year to Date
Cases 9

2020 Jan. - May
Cases 5

Increase: 80%

ZONE 5 (Including Midtown)
2021 Year to Date
Cases 9

2020 Jan. - May
Cases 8

Increase: 13%

Aggravated assault

ZONE 2 (Including Garden Hills)
2021 Year to Date
Cases 84

2020 Jan. - May
Cases 51

Increase: 65%

ZONE 5 (Including Midtown) 
2021 Year to Date
Cases 132

2020  Jan. - May
Cases 93

Increase: 42%

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