Queensland police say a man accused of raping and assaulting a young woman, who was taking a morning bushwalk, has been arrested after he returned to the crime scene in his vehicle later that evening.
A woman, aged in her ۲۰s, was walking in the semi-rural Brisbane suburb of Brookfield about ۶.۳۰am on Thursday when she was allegedly stopped by the man and sexually assaulted. She told police her attacker fled on foot.
Later that afternoon, police arrested a ۳۲-year-old man from Raceview, near Ipswich, nearby.
Det Supt Andrew Massingham told reporters the attack had been random and that the alleged attacker had been on his way to work.
“We will then allege that when he completed work that day, he drove back past the crime scene,” Massingham said on Friday.
Massingham said that after an urgent public appeal for information on Thursday, two people came forward with dashcam footage that was “the final piece of the puzzle”.
“Officers identified the vehicle as being similar,” Massingham said. “They followed the vehicle, and he was actually intercepted.”
The man has been charged with six counts of rape, stalking, assault with intent to commit rape, assault causing bodily harm and deprivation of liberty.
Police said they will allege the man had approached the woman from behind near the Brookfield Road bridge.
Police said the woman was now being cared for by family.
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Massingham said he wanted to “acknowledge her bravery in coming forward”.
“The [alleged victim] is at home with her family. [It’s alleged] she has suffered injuries as a result of yesterday’s assault.
“She has been provided with the upmost care medically and psychologically that we can at this time. Our thoughts are with her [and] her family.”
