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Rape suspect to be charged in 2nd case

Rape suspect to be charged in 2nd case image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
June
Year
1983
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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OCR Text

A man charged with the rape-torture of an Ypsilanti woman is a suspect in an attempted abduction of a woman who was jogging in Sylvan Township.
The man, 19-year-old Michael Coffey, of Ypsilanti, was arrested last week after an Ypsilanti woman was raped, cut several times with a butcher knife and tortured with electrical shocks while she was held prisoner in her own apartment.
He has been in the Washtenaw County jail under $300,000 bail. He is to appear July 6 before 14th District Court Judge Robert V. Fink for a preliminary hearing on charges of rape and attempted murder.
Since Coffey's arrest on June 23, detectives from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department have developed him as a suspect in a June 19 attempt to run over and abduct a 35-year-old woman who was jogging at Bush and McClure roads in Sylvan Township.
The victim told police that she was thrown into a ditch after being sideswiped from behind by a car. The car's driver reportedly stopped, backed up and asked the victim if she was all right.
Then, police were told, the man got out and tried to drag the woman into his car. She fought with the man, forcing him to release her with a kick to the groin. She ran into a nearby woods and hid. The man spent several minutes searching for her before driving away, police were told.
The woman reportedly identified Coffey as her attacker during a lineup held Tuesday afternoon at the county jail. Warrants have been obtained charging Coffey with assault with an auto and attempted kidnapping.
He is expected to be arraigned on those charges this afternoon before 14th District Court Judge Karl Fink in Chelsea.
Officers from the Ypsilanti Police Department arrested Coffey at an apartment in the 200 block of North Hamilton Street after receiving a report that a woman had been screaming for more than a half hour. As officers approached the apartment the door burst open. A 22-year-old nearly nude woman ran into the hallway, pursued by a man armed with a butcher knife.
Officers drew their guns, and the man dropped the knife and surrendered without a struggle. The victim was bleeding from numerous cuts on her neck and face . Police also said her attacker scraped insulation from an extension cord, wrapped the bare wires around her wrists and ankles, then tormented her by plugging the cord into a wall socket. She was taken to Beyer Memorial Hospital, treated and released.
Original reports stated two men held the woman prisoner for about an hour while raping and torturing her.
"But," said Deputy Chief of Police Daniel Heliker, "we've been unable to develop information about an accomplice. It appears that only a single individual may have been involved."
Sheriff's detectives say Coffey became a suspect in the Sylvan Township abduction attempt after a Chelsea policeman who recognized Coffey reported seeing him in the Chelsea area shortly after the incident at Bush and McClure roads.
"From then on it was a matter of trying to fit things together," said Sheriff's Detective Paul Wade, the officer who obtained the warrants from the county prosecutor's office. "But I can't get into much detail until after the suspect is arraigned."