Rape suspect arrested
Police arrested a Baker man Saturday accused of kidnapping a woman from the Bone and Joint Clinic’s parking area on Hennessy Boulevard near Essen Lane and later raping her in Iberville Parish, a police spokesman said.
Michael Rushing, 47, 14185 Brown Road, Baker, was booked into Parish Prison on counts of aggravated rape and second-degree kidnapping, Cpl. Tommy Stubbs said in a news release.
The 22-year-old victim helped police find Rushing, Stubbs said. During the encounter, the attacker told the woman some details about his personal life, he said.
The woman told detectives what she knew, and detectives developed Rushing as a suspect after receiving tips from Crime Stoppers that matched what the attacker shared with his victim, Stubbs said.
Stubbs declined to divulge those details, and they are not explained in an arrest warrant for Rushing.
The warrant says Rushing approached the woman about 12:30 p.m. Friday as she was getting out of her car and was about to walk into the Bone and Joint Clinic, 7301 Hennessy Blvd., for a checkup.
Rushing, armed with a handgun, forced the woman into a red, four-door Chevrolet Silverado pickup, the warrant says.
Rushing drove the victim to a wooded area near the Mississippi River in Sunshine, which is in Iberville Parish, near mile marker 1130 off La. 75, the warrant says.
Rushing kept the woman there for several hours while talking to her about troubles he was having in his life, the warrant says.
At one point, Rushing fired his gun toward the river to scare off anyone who may have been nearby, the warrant says.
Rushing then raped the woman, the warrant says.
The woman told police she didn’t resist because she was afraid she would be killed.
After a few minutes, Rushing stopped and apologized to the woman, and he let her put her clothes back on, the warrant says.
Afterward, Rushing dropped the woman off at a McDonald’s restaurant at 4215 Nicholson Drive, the warrant says.
The woman identified Rushing in a photo lineup after police developed him as a suspect, the warrant says.
Rushing was arrested on Rollins Road in Zachary, Stubbs said.
The Zachary Police Department and Louisiana State Police helped with the investigation.