A collaborative effort from law enforcement agencies from King County, Des Moines, Federal Way and Tacoma continue to analyze evidence as they attempt to link a series of violent rapes throughout the area to a local suspect.

Police apprehended suspect Anthony Casper Dias, 26-year-old resident of 36202 23rd Place South, when he attempted to flee The Heights apartment complex last Tuesday morning after holding a 45-year-old woman hostage and sexually assaulting her 15 and 13-year-old daughters. Two gunshots, one of which landed in Dias' arm, stopped the alleged serial rapist in a wooded area approximately 100 yards from the complex. Officer Shon Smith, 34, a member of the Federal Way department since 2004, fired the shots at Dias. Smith remains on paid leave pending a mandatory investigation of the use of deadly force.

Dias did not sustain life-threatening injuries, Federal Way Police Commander Andy Hwang said in a press conference from City Hall last Tuesday. The suspect remains in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

On November 7, Dias entered the victims' apartment around 11:30 p.m.-armed with a handgun-and held the woman and her two daughters against their will. The rapist demanded money from them.

Dias used duct tape and rope to restrain the mother while assaulting the teenage girls. The suspect remained in the apartment overnight.

Around 5:30 a.m., the victims told police, one of the daughters freed the mother, and the three women made their escape after they discovered Dias had fallen asleep. Once they reached safety, the mother notified police who quickly arrived at the scene and established a perimeter around the apartment unit.

The incident report states that Dias became aware of police presence around 7:15 a.m., and he stood on the balcony with his firearm, confronting the officers below. Dias reentered the apartment, and 10 minutes later, returned to the balcony, jumped and attempted to escape the officers on foot.

"The suspect was uncooperative and refused to follow officers' directions," said Commander Hwang, who told the media that due to of the severity of the crime, his department considered Dias armed and dangerous at the time of the incident. Hwang did not comment on several witness statements that suggested police might have unsuccessfully attempted to use tasers to subdue Dias while he stood on the balcony. The Commander did not comment on the details of the shooting, but said that the Kent Police Department had begun to review the case. Hwang said an outside investigation is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.

"The suspect was in a wooded area and visibility wasn't great, Hwang said. "The officers felt deadly force was necessary to apprehend the criminal."

With Dias in custody, law enforcement agencies throughout King and Pierce Counties have begun to compile the evidence linking Dias to a string of similar incidences that have occurred in the area since August.

The most recently reported rape before last Tuesday's incident occurred at the Enchanted Woods apartments on 360th Street, just blocks away from Dias' home.

Other incidents-those in Fircrest, Tacoma and Des Moines-show significant similarities in method and suspect descriptions to last Tuesday's rapes at The Heights.

King County Sheriff's Office representative John Urquhart indicated "a strong likelihood" that a link exists between the crimes.

"We believe this is most likely the same suspect because of MO and because of physical description," Urquhart said, "but until there is forensic, scientific evidence that links him to one or more of these crimes we're not going to know for sure."

Federal Way Police confiscated Dias' car at the scene. They discovered the mask, gloves and cell phone used in the crime. Hwang said the departments plan to compare DNA evidence from the different incidents to determine a link.

Still, the incident raises as many questions for law enforcement as it does answers.

The law enforcement officials could provide no response to pressing media questions as to why Dias would remain at the scene for nearly eight hours and, more unbelievably, fall asleep after committing such horrific crimes.

"This is one of the most bizarre crimes we've come across," said Urquhart. "Residential takeovers of this kind are very unusual."

A wide majority of reported rapes involve assailants the victim knows and trusts.

The suspect has a short list of prior arrests, including a felony assault in 1991 at the age of 13, driving with a suspended license at 19, and forgery and theft in 2000. His most recent arrest came last July, when Dias turned himself in days after colliding with a state patrol car on I-5. Dias was charged with vehicular assault.

The Federal Way department plans to charge Dias with two counts of first-degree rape, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault, as well as unlawful imprisonment.

With Dias off the streets, authorities are encouraging other victims who may have been intimidated by the rapist to come forward.

"(Dias is) bold, bizarre and dangerous," said Ed Troyer, a representative with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office. "There are a lot of smiles because he is behind bars."