The suspect in an investigation of five rape cases since July was arrested Thursday and taken to the Marion County Jail.
Police charged Michael Alan Frye, 37, with multiple counts in connection with rapes he allegedly committed in Marion County.
The Ocala Police Department charged him with one count of sexual battery and one count of kidnapping, said department spokesman Sgt. Chas Maier. The Marion County Sheriff's Office charged him with one count of sexual battery, one count of kidnapping, one count of armed sexual battery and one count of armed kidnapping, said Judge Cochran, public information officer for the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
The Gainesville Police Department was part of the task force investigating the issue, along with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, Ocala Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol.
The five rapes being investigated include one in Gainesville, two in Ocala and two in other parts of Marion County.
Cpl. Angelina Valuri, GPD public information officer, said the department is conducting an extensive follow-up investigation to determine whether Frye is the same suspect involved in a July 5 sexual battery case in Gainesville.
One victim said she was assaulted on July 19, according to a Marion County Sheriff's Office arrest report. She said she had left her home to go to a Dunkin' Donuts on East Silver Springs Boulevard to turn in an employment application that afternoon.
While walking through the parking lot of a Walgreens on the same road, she was approached by a man who was driving either a teal green or light blue minivan who offered her a ride because it was hot outside.
He took her to Dunkin' Donuts, where she turned in her application. He then drove to Juniper Trail in order to check on homes he said he owned in the area.
He parked across the street from 122 Juniper Trail, where the incident occurred, and offered to let her see the house, according to the report. She followed him to the backyard, where he then dragged her over to a shed where he bound and sexually assaulted her.
After he left she freed herself, ran next door and asked a man to call the Marion County Sheriff's Office, according to the report.
Cochran said media attention, including publicizing drawings of the suspect, led to tips for the task force.
"Eventually they worked their way right to the door where he lived," he said.
Ocala Police Department Detective Stephanie McQuaig located Frye, whose appearance matched descriptions given by the victims, as a potential suspect and told Marion County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Jerry Bevan on Thursday about the connection, according to an arrest report.
In photo lineups that included images of Frye, victims identified him as their assailant.
Frye is being held without bond.
