Residents in a Sarpy County neighborhood are breathing a bit easier after the sheriffs department arrested Stephen Prior Friday evening.
Sheriff Jeff Davis believes Prior is the suspect they were looking for following a robbery and rape case in near 156th and Giles late Wednesday night. The 52 year old Prior has a criminal history, spending 8 years in prison for crimes including forgery, burglary, and robbery.
Prior has a current protection order in Douglas County as well as several prior protection orders. Authorities released a sketch of the suspect created with help from the victim and also provided a picture of Prior from a past incident.
Davis says the masked man who committed the sexual assault was armed with a gun and got into the home without any forced entry. He says The Sheriff says Prior had a portable scanner in his car to alert him to nearby police activity to avoid capture. That car was recovered Friday morning.
Davis also revealed that Prior lived in the neighborhood of 156th and Giles both in a nearby apartment and a house, making him very familiar with the area. In addition to this case, Prior was linked to two previous sexual assault cases in Omaha.
Police say all of Prior's recent victims were in the medical field. Prior is currently facing charges of 1st-degree sexual assault, burglary, robbery, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and false imprisonment.