Walbridge man accused in rape in Northwood

7/26/2012

A Walbridge man was arrested this week and charged with raping two women in Northwood.

Michael Roy Chaney, 52, of 27695 Tracy Rd., Friendly Village, is to appear Aug. 2 in Bowling Green Municipal Court, officials said. He was arrested by Northwood police after a traffic stop Sunday, police Sgt. Doug Hubaker said.

The suspect is being held in the Wood County jail in lieu of $200,000 bond.

Sergeant Hubaker said the suspect is accused of raping two women, both picked up by the man in East Toledo.

The first alleged rape was reported to police at 12:30 a.m. July 16. The victim, a 30-year-old woman, told police a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle picked her up at East Broadway and Greenwood Avenue and drove her to a remote location. Once there, the man "violently raped her," Sergeant Hubaker said.

The second rape was reported to police just five days later. A 37-year-old woman told police that, on Sunday, a man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle picked her up at East Broadway and Starr Avenue close to midnight Sunday.

The woman said the man drove her around for a while and then took her to a remote location near railroad property where she was also "violently raped," Sergeant Hubaker said.

About 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Northwood police Officer Michael Worden was on patrol and stopped Mr. Chaney, who was driving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, for an equipment violation. Once the suspect was stopped, the officer found the suspect also did not have a driver's license.

Sergeant Hubaker attributed the arrest to "good police work."

"The detectives put out a roll call notice to our officers to say, 'Hey, here's the suspect description. If you see anybody matching that description, if we can identify him, please do,' " the sergeant said.

The sergeant said Officer Worden noticed Mr. Chaney looked like the description provided at roll call and proceeded to interview Mr. Chaney.

During the interview, the officer reportedly recalled that the victims had described tattoos on the alleged rapist's body. The officer persuaded the suspect to show him his tattoos, which the officer reported matched those in the description.