Another Sexual Assault Cold Case Arrest Due To DNA Testing Grant

CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte police have arrested a man they say is the suspect behind two sexual assault cold cases for crimes that occurred about four years apart and have remained unsolved for nearly 30 years. Those cases had grown cold until a recent federal grant for rape kit DNA testing provided authorities new leads.

Charlotte has a backlog of more than 800 sexual assault kits that have either only been partially tested or not processed at all, The Charlotte Observer reported recently.

The first of the two cases, tied together by common DNA, occurred in 1990, when a then- 18-year-old victim told Charlotte police that she had been sexually assaulted in the 1400 block of Samuel Street in the predawn hours on Oct. 16. She told officers, who responded to the scene around 3:30 a.m., that the suspect robbed her after the assault, then took off on foot.

In February 1994, a 17-year-old victim reported to police she was waiting for a bus when the accused pulled up to the bus stop and forced her into his vehicle. “He then drove to another location and sexually assaulted her before letting her go,” a CMPD report said.

SEE ALSO: Federal Grant For DNA Rapekit Backlog Leads CMPD To Arrest

As a result of recent DNA testing, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police detectives identified the suspect as Warren Lee Caldwell, 56, and have charged him with two counts of second-degree rape, common law robbery and one count of first-degree kidnapping.

According to CMPD, Caldwell has is a registered sex offender, has been arrested more than 50 times and in 2002, was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child.

In 2006, CMPD launched a Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit to review 2,886 cases, and reports fewer than 10 percent of those cases have been resolved. "Of those cases, 260 have been cleared, 80 of which were cleared by arrest, 177 were exceptionally cleared and 3 have been unfounded," CMPD said Wednesday.

In October 2017, CMPD received a Department of Justice grant of $837,342 aimed at getting Charlotte caught up with DNA testing, the Observer reported. In addition to testing, the grant paid for two new laptops for sexual assault detectives, as well as the hiring of a part-time researcher.

CMPD asks that anyone who may have information concerning these cases contact Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

Photo courtesy of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

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