CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police arrested a man last week in connection with two rape cold cases from the 1990s.
According to CMPD, cold case detectives used DNA evidence to identify 56-year-old Warren Lee Caldwell as a suspect in the rape of two teenagers. He is charged with two counts of second-degree rape, common law robbery and one count of first-degree kidnapping. Detectives said Caldwell’s victims were 17 and 18 years old at the time of the assaults.
The first assault occurred on October 16, 1990, when CMPD responded to an attack on an 18-year-old on Samuel Street. The victim told police the suspect sexually assaulted and robbed her before running from the scene.
On February 4, 1994, officers responded to a reported rape in the 2400 block of North Tryon Street. The victim told detectives she was waiting at a bus stop when the suspect pulled up and forced her into his vehicle before driving to another location and assaulting her.
Police said both cases were cold until the recent DNA match. A few years ago, our Defenders team revealed hundreds of rape kits at CMPD went untested for as long as a decade. Following our investigation, CMPD changed its policy to test all rape kits.
At a news conference on Wednesday, police said they’ve already made several arrests this year because of the rape kit testing.
“We’re starting to get more and more DNA hits, we expect this year to be a stellar year for us,” said Sgt. Darrell Price with CMPD.
“Already this year in two months, we’ve made four arrests in four cases,” said Sgt. Price.
Sgt. Price said in many cases, the suspects are already in prison when there is a DNA match, but Caldwell was not in custody at the time.
“In this case we got a DNA hit on a guy who committed two rapes who is out walking the streets, we definitely need to get these people off the streets as quick as possible,” Sergeant Price said.
CMPD said Caldwell, a registered sex offender who was convicted of indecent liberties with a child in 2002, has been arrested more than 50 times.