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Cold Case: Danbury Police Bust Man In 35-Year-Old Rape, Kidnapping Spree Case

A 53-year-old man arrested this week that could be the key to solving a series of kidnappings and rapes that happened in a small Fairfield County town in 1989, authorities announced. 

David V. Coffey

David V. Coffey

Photo Credit: Danbury Police Department

David V. Coffey was arrested and charged in connection to the abduction and rape of a woman in Danbury, authorities said. Police added other arrests are pending in the cases. 

The woman was one of several who said they were attacked in the Lake Avenue and Merrimac Street area of Danbury, but "despite the diligent efforts of the investigators," detectives were unable to solve the case, Erin Henry, a city spokesperson, said. 

It wasn't until November of last year when one of the victims approached Danbury police about her case that the department's special victim's unit decided to reopen those files and approach the attacks with fresh eyes and new technology. 

Police honed in on David Coffey after a state forensics lab linked him to one of the rapes, authorities said. Danbury Police did not detail what evidence they collected and tested. 

Authorities said Coffey, who was in his late 20s at the time, lived in the Danbury area then. 

A judge granted an arrest warrant for kidnapping in the first degree, and officers arrested him on Tuesday, Oct. 22, police said. 

Authorities were holding him on a $750,000 bond, police said. 

Investigators said they are actively investigating the attacks in 1989, and ask anyone who has any information on those incidents to contact Danbury Det. John Basile at 203-797-4668 or the Danbury Police Investigative Services Bureau at 203-797-4662

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