A day after police released pictures of a suspect in a weekend sexual assault of a teenage girl, a man is in custody.
LORI PILGER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 12:00 am
Police arrested a man suspected in the weekend sexual assault of a teenager, a day after they released surveillance pictures of him.
James Plummer, a 26-year-old transient, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault. Prosecutors haven’t formally charged him yet.
But police say they believe he approached the 14-year-old girl at about 1 p.m. Saturday as she walked along 27th Street, about a block south of O Street.
The girl told police she spoke with the man briefly, then said she needed to leave. But he pulled her into a stairwell behind an office building at 140 S. 27th St. and assaulted her, she said, threatening to hurt her if she screamed.
Police said the man was last seen walking toward the Git ‘N Split about a block away at 2801 O St. A man matching his description was recorded on the store’s video camera minutes later.
Tuesday afternoon, police released images of the suspect from the store.
Armed with the images and a Crime Stoppers tip, Officer Mayde McGuire canvassed a building in the 2600 block of K Street, where a woman immediately recognized the man in the pictures as James Plummer, Officer Katie Flood said.
Police found him walking near South 25th and J streets, wearing the same red jacket seen in the surveillance video and described by the girl, Flood said.
Plummer was taken to police headquarters for questioning and arrested. Two hours later, he was booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault, she said.
Lincoln police have previously arrested Plummer four times and cited him six, most recently Sept. 2. His record includes charges for shoplifting, trespassing and driving on a suspended license.
Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.