An athlete from Trinidad and Tobago, who was part of the 4x100 relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, has been arrested in New York, accused of being a serial rapist.
Alvin Henry, 30, was reportedly held on Sunday, shortly after he allegedly raped a woman who police said was his fifth victim in four years.
Investigators dubbed the suspect the Lover's Lane rapist, because the crimes were carried out in public parks and the victims were involved in intimate trysts shortly before the attacks.
He was arrested at a park when an alleged victim saw him and called the police.
Henry was an alternate in the 4x100m men's relay team in Sydney, Australia.
His last big race in national colours came in the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador. He helped the 4x100m team cop a bronze medal.
Henry is said to have returned to Trinidad in 2003, but returned to the US earlier this year. He was said to have been living with an aunt in Queen's and with a friend in Brooklyn.
Yesterday, his 2000 Olympic coach, Jimkins Clarke, said of Henry: "All I can say about him is that he was an athlete with the team. But I know little about him personally, not even where he lived (in Trinidad). He moved from place to place, from north to south."
According to on-line news reports Henry, of Springfield Gardens, New York, was arrested when police allegedly traced calls he made on a cell phone to a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly assaulted.
Investigators are said to have linked Henry to the June 26, 2003 rape of a 19-year-old at a Baisley Park in Jamaica, New York, the August 4 attempted rape of a woman at Roy Wilkens Park, Jamaica, and the assault, last April 27, of a 15-year-old girl in Prospect Park.
It was also reported that on June 11, Henry assaulted a 15-year-old girl and four days later, raped the girlfriend of a police officer.
Henry is accused of using a gun or a knife in two of the attacks.
Richard Charan South Bureau
trinidad express
Tuesday, July 3rd 2007
