Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Tuesday, February 11, 2014
(AVON) - Police have a man in custody suspected in a robbery and sexual assault crime spree spanning three cities in central Indiana and investigators suspect there may be more victims.
The man is a suspect in an abduction assault involving two women at the Avon Walmart last Thursday; a sexual assault in Indianapolis last Wednesday; and a Plainfield robbery.
Michael Parrish of Indianapolis is in Hendricks County Jail awaiting his initial hearing on a long list of charges, including sexual assault, rape, robbery, theft, auto theft, receiving stolen property, battery, criminal confinement and more in a crime spree that spans Indianapolis, Plainfield and Avon.
Detectives say Parrish abducted two women and a young child from the Avon Walmart last Thursday night at gunpoint, sexually assaulted the women in front of the child, then forced them to drive home at gunpoint where he tied up a male victim, robbed them and stole their car.
Parrish was released from prison in the last year and a half after being sentenced for robbery when he was about 16 years old.
Parrish is also the prime suspect in a home invasion robbery last week in Indianapolis on LaSalle Street. The victim told police the attackers offered to shovel her snow before forcing their way into her home, where they stole several items after sexually assaulting her.
Parrish and another man are also suspected in last Saturday's robbery at the Kohls in Plainfield, Indiana.
The Hendricks County prosecutors office is working on finalizing charges against Parrish, who is expected to have his initial hearing in court Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department also have two men in custody connected to the LaSalle Street home invasion who are reportedly also linked to Parrish.
Walmart parking lot assault
In the Avon Walmart parking lot assault last Thursday night, one of the women was returning her cart in the store parking lot when she noticed a man talking on a cell phone. She told police he seemed agitated and was using profanity.
According to police, the man followed the woman back to her car, then forced her at gunpoint to drive him from the Avon Walmart to a nearby apartment complex parking lot, where he sexually assaulted both in the car with a young child in the backseat. The man threatened to kill the child if they did not comply.
The victims were then forced to drive to their home in Clermont. That's where investigators say he tied up the women and a male roommate, then ransacked their home.
The suspect fled with the victim's car, a 1998 green Chevy Blazer, along with laptops, a flat screen and cell phones. He told the women not to call police for two hours or they would be shot in the head, and that he had someone watching them from across the street.
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