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Police arrest man involved in King County robberies, sexual assaults

SEATTLE — According to the Seattle Police Department, a man was arrested Thursday in connection with robberies and sexual assaults around King County.

Seattle police said 38-year-old Charles Linell Bluford was taken into custody because they believe he is responsible for a number violent robberies and attacks on two women near their homes.
According to the police, detectives with the King County Sheriff’s Office, Bellevue, Seattle and Renton Police Department met with a group of victims.
King County Sheriff’s Office detectives were able to trace and locate a victim’s cellphone, stolen during the incident, and identified Bluford from several photos taken on the phone after the robbery.
Detectives then obtained a search warrant for Bluford’s home, where they found the victim’s purse and credit cards, along with items taken from a woman during another violent robbery on Jan.26.
In that incident, Bluford attacked a woman at gunpoint in the garage of her Bellevue home. Bluford pointed a gun at the woman, robbed her, shoved his hand into the woman’s underwear, and then fled, said police.
In the second attack, Bluford attacked a woman on March 10 in the driveway of her Shoreline home, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Bluford pointed a gun at the woman, stole her wedding ring, purse, credit cards, cellphone and threatened to kill her, said police. Bluford then forced the woman into her garage, told her to take off her pants, and then beat her and sexually assaulted her.
In addition to these two attacks, Renton and Seattle police are investigating Bluford in at least nine other cases, which took place since the beginning of 2012.
Police said Bluford will face charges of rape, robbery and indecent liberties in King County Superior Court.
Bluford is being held at the King County Jail on $200,000 bail.

KIRO

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