They said they found Varian Jones, 38, of Maple Shade, at the location of the alleged assault in Salem County because he was unable to leave -- the 30-year-old victim stole his glasses during the attack.
State police said the attack happened Thursday night inside an abandoned home and they want to know if the same suspect is responsible for two other recent attacks in the same place. Investigators said he didn't get away Thursday night after the victim escaped with a crucial piece of evidence.
Authorities said the eyeglasses Jones uses to see were the same glasses that ultimately helped New Jersey state police set their sights on him. "We heard police activity on the corner, saw lights in the woods," Randall Tyler, a neighbor, said.
State police said the Maple Shade man picked up a 30-year-old woman at a Camden bus stop around 8:30 p.m. Thursday, after offering to give her a ride in his black Nissan Pathfinder.
Police said he then drove her to Oldmans Township, Salem County and sexually assaulted her in an abandoned house on New Road. The two struggled, during which investigators said the victim grabbed Jones' glasses and ran to a nearby home where she called police.
"But he was still at that location when troopers arrived back, which was fairly quickly. But he was searching for those glasses," New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said.
"I think that's horrible for this rural community. Nothing like that ever happens here," Tyler said.
Authorities said Jones was still at the house when they showed up a short time later, because, investigators say, he couldn't see without his glasses.
"It's just amazing that someone from way in Maple Shade knows that the house was abandoned and we didn't. We live right around the corner from the house, you know. Crazy," Johnny Hudson, a neighbor, said.
On March 22, a 23-year-old woman from Pittsgrove was picked up at a Gloucester City bus stop and sexually assaulted at the same location. Like Thursday night's attack, she was picked up by a man driving a black SUV.
Less than a month later, a 21-year-old from Westampton, Burlington County, was picked up at a Cherry Hill mall bus stop and assaulted at the New Road location. She escaped without being assaulted, police said.
"We're encouraging any other women who may have been attacked, in a very similar way, under similar circumstances to please contact Woodstown State Police Barracks," Stephen Jones said.
State police are trying to determine if there's a link between the three cases. Investigators are analyzing physical evidence from the previous attacks.
"It's a shame because this is a nice quiet area, you usually don't hear about anything, people don't even know about the area, much less to bring somebody here," Caressa Dredden, a neighbor, said.
Jones has been charged with Thursday's attack. He's in the Salem County Jail, bail set at $200,000.
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