Ross Police Identify Suspect, Obtain Arrest Warrant in Sexual Assaults Cases as Search Continues

Arthur L. Henderson, 38, of the North Side, was identified Wednesday by Ross Township Police as the suspect in . 

Henderson was not in custody and his whereabouts were not known by police as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said. 

A $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest is being offered by the FBI. 

"The investigation is still ongoing up to this minute," said Ross Police spokesman Sgt. Benjamin Dripps. 

An arrest warrant was issued for Henderson late afternoon Wednesday by Judge Richard Opiela of Magisterial District Court 05-2-02. 

Ross police have charged Henderson with two counts each of rape, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, burglary, persons not to possess firearms, indecent assault, theft, and possession of instruments of crime.

He has also been charged with three counts of robbery, intimidation of victims, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, and one count each of recklessly endangering another person and access device fraud.

A copy of the warrant and complaint, filed just before the court office closed, was not immediately available. 

Henderson is wanted on federal charges that were also not released. Those charges, which are for less serious crimes than those he is accused of in Ross Township according to Ross Det. Brian Kohlhepp, are under seal by the courts. 

While a resident of the Manchester area of the North Side, Henderson frequently stayed at the apartment of his girlfriend, who lived in the Cascades Apartment Complex at 100 East West Drive in Ross Township, where the second attack occurred Monday, Jan. 9, police said. 

He was identified as a potential suspect later that afternoon. A search warrant was issued Tuesday, Jan. 10, and Henderson was interviewed the next day, where a DNA sample was taken, Kohlhepp said. 

Kohlhepp said there was not enough evidence to arrest him at that time. 

DNA test results were completed Wednesday morning, said Allegheny County Medical Examiner Karl Williams. 

Williams said the analysis identifies only the two Ross Township women as victims. 

He said he could not speak to . A rape reported earlier this year in McCandless was not related, he said. 

Motive for the attacks was not addressed by police. Early in the investigation, police said the two attacks appeared to be random. Both women targeted were in their mid-twenties, lived in apartment complexes and were assaulted in the early morning hours after returning from walking their dogs. 

"We have not had a chance to question Mr. Henderson," Kohlhepp said. 

Ross police are continuing their extra patrols as the search for Henderson continues.