Eric G. Ford, 32, of Robbinsville is charged with an assault two days apart recently.
TRENTON -- The Robbinsvile man charged with raping a woman at gunpoint in a Hamilton cemetery recently faces the same set of charges for the attack of a woman in Trenton two days later, police said.
Eric G. Ford, 32, was arrested last week charged with aggravated sexual assault and weapons offenses for the March 15 assault of a woman in the area of Lady of Lourdes cemetery near the 400 block of Woolsey Street.
Eric G. Ford The woman reported to Hamilton detectives that next day - March 16 - that she she was sexually assaulted from about 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. the day before, Hamilton police have said.
On March 17, a woman in Trenton reported a similar sexual assault and Trenton detectives identified Ford as a suspect from prior contacts with him, Trenton police said.
Trenton and Hamilton detectives then worked jointly on the case, along with a detective from the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, Trenton police said.
The victims are separate, 51-year-old women.
Trenton police and Hamilton both say they are investigating if there are any other victims in the area that have yet to come forward.
Ford also faces aggravated sexual assault and weapons offenses for the Trenton incident. He was charged with the Trenton attack a day after Hamilton charged Ford, police said.
Police spokesman Lt. Stephen Varn said Ford allegedly forced a woman to disrobe behind a vacant home in the 300 block of West State Street at about 6 a.m.
While driving on the block, Ford allegedly saw the woman on foot and offered her a ride. The woman initially declined, saying she was walking to a friend's house. nearby, Varn said.
After Ford persisted, the victim eventually got into Ford's car and he promptly made a u-turn and drove the opposite direction. Moments later, he allegedly forced the woman to go behind a house at gunpoint and ordered her to take off her clothes, Varn said.
After sexually assaulting the woman, Ford allowed her to leave and she gathered her clothes and went home and called Trenton police, Varn said.
Detective Scott Peterson and Sgt. Tim Thomas worked the case, Varn said.
Varn said detectives are familiar with Ford from prior dealings with him in the past few years. He declined to elaborate on the dealings.
Records show Ford was sentenced to a year in jail, plus five years or probation in October 2014 for a domestic assault.
Ford was initially jailed on $300,000 bail for the Hamilton charges and is scheduled to appear in Mercer County Superior Court later this week for a hearing.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Trenton detectives at 609-989-4155, the Trenton police confidential Tip Line at 609-989-3663 or Hamilton Detective Matthew Bagley at 609-581-4030.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.