Man charged in rape of elderly women also suspect in assault
A 52-year-old registered sex offender, who is accused of raping two Dearborn sisters, 78 and 85, on St. Patrick’s Day also appears to be connected to the sexual assault of a 13-year-old Allen Park girl.
Michael Holcomb, of Ecorse, is facing 10 felony counts for the crimes in Dearborn, including assault, sexual assault and torture.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said it received a warrant request for a suspect in the attack on the 13-year-old female victim but did not confirm whether it was connected to
Holcomb because the suspect in the Allen Park case had not yet been charged. The Prosecutor’s Office said it expected to offer a case update on Friday.
Allen Park Police Chief Chris Egan, however, confirmed the department is working on a sexual assault case involving a child that appears to be related to the Holcomb case, the News-Herald reported. Thursday afternoon, Egan said the suspect in the Allen Park crime is currently in Dearborn’s jail on 10 felony charges, but he could not confirm the identity of the suspect until the arraignment, which he said is expected sometime next week.
The Free Press left a message with the Dearborn Police Department Thursday afternoon.
Egan, the News-Herald added, said that the victim was attacked at about 11 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day.
That same day, officers were called to the Dearborn home on the sixth block of Carlyle Court at about 1:30 p.m., but the suspect got away. Holcomb was tracked to a nearby motel in Melvindale based on eyewitness accounts and other detective work, the Dearborn police said. The women, who were injured, were treated at a local hospital.
That timeline would put the attack in Allen
Park at less than 21⁄2 hours before the one in Dearborn. The cities are about a 15-minute drive apart. It is unclear whether the attacks were random or targeted.
Holcomb was arraigned Wednesday in 19th District Court.
Longtime prosecutor Kym Worthy described the actions as “among the most egregious and deplorable” that she’s seen in more than three decades of practicing criminal law. The women, she said, “were brutalized, tortured, and repeatedly sexually assaulted.”
The probable cause hearing for the case is set for April 1.