$750,000 bond set in Tiffin attack case

9/13/2008

TIFFIN Bond was set at $750,000 yesterday for a Helena, Ohio, man charged in connection with an Aug. 1 attack on a Tiffin woman.

Jeffrey D. Traxler, 21, was arraigned before Tiffin Municipal Court Judge Mark Repp on a charge of burglary for breaking into a Frost Parkway home where a woman inside told police she was raped.

Tiffin police Chief Dave LaGrange said officers initially arrested Mr. Traxler on a warrant charging him with abduction stemming from an Aug. 28 attack on a Tiffin University student because the victim in that case had picked his photo out of photo lineup.

Yesterday, though, police dropped that charge after learning Mr. Traxler did not have the distinctive Legend tattoo on his right arm that the victim of the Aug. 28 assault had described.

We re operating under the assumption that we may have another suspect out there that we have to catch, the chief said. We ve talked to the colleges and let them know it. We ve made sure we got that out to the community not to let their guard down.

Police are investigating four incidents since Aug. 1 involving attacks on women in the city.

Chief LaGrange said Mr. Traxler was identified as a suspect in the Aug. 1 attack this week when the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation determined fingerprints lifted from the crime scene matched his prints.

With the help of Perrysburg Township police and the U.S. Marshals Service, Mr. Traxler was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg Townshi, where he was working on a construction crew, the chief said.

Police anticipate filing a rape charge against Mr. Traxler for the Aug. 1 incident but are awaiting results of DNA testing, Chief LaGrange said.