TEMPE, Ariz. — A man recently arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman and stealing nearly $5,000 out of her account has been connected to other assault cases in the East Valley, court records show.
Fred Mason, 31, was booked into jail this week after security footage allegedly captured him carrying a woman into a hotel room where the woman claims she "blacked" out and woke up with the feeling she had been sexually assaulted.
The woman told police that when she woke up in the hotel room, she looked at her phone and noticed that thousands of dollars had been transferred into a Cash App account allegedly belonging to Mason, court records show.
She had met up with the suspect the previous evening at a bar and started to feel "more intoxicated" than normal after having a couple of drinks before blacking out, she told police.
DNA evidence recovered from the case created a profile that allegedly matched three other open cases in Chandler, Tempe, and Mesa.
The three cases took place between 2016 and 2021. They all involved young victims reporting instances of being assaulted.
When questioned by police, Mason either denied involvement or indicated the sexual encounters were consensual.
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