A Vancouver man suspected of attacking two women had been acquitted by a Clark County jury of similar attempted rape allegations less than two months ago.
Dshawn D. Carr, 21, is being held in the Clark County Jail on $1 million bail on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, second-degree attempted kidnapping with sexual motivation, unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault.
Charges relate to allegations that on the night of Jan. 30, he raped a woman at knife point in the parking lot of a used car lot on the 9400 block of Highway 99.
Three nights later, Carr allegedly attacked a woman loading groceries into her vehicle at WinCo at 9700 Highway 99. The suspect was attempting to force the woman into the vehicle when a witness saw the altercation and scared the man away, police said.
On Dec. 17, a 12-member jury had acquitted Carr of first-degree kidnapping with sexual motivation and first-degree attempted rape charges relating to an alleged attack of a woman in August.
The woman had alleged that Carr followed her from the Plaid Pantry store at Fourth Plain Boulevard and Kauffman Avenue and grabbed her, dragging her across a field. A passerby intervened and the woman got away, according to court papers.
Clay Spencer, Carr’s defense attorney at trial, had successfully showed how the passerby was not credible and how there was a lack of physical evidence of any attack. He also pointed out that the woman had not reported the incident as a rape attempt when she called 911.
“Our theory of the case was that this was never a physical assault,” Spencer said this morning.
Following a two-day trial, jurors took less than two hours to acquit Carr, Spencer said.
Carr was arrested Feb. 2 on the new allegations.
For a complete story, read Friday’s Columbian.
