Rashad Palmer is accused of assaulting one woman and robbing another in 2014
TRENTON - A man accused of sexually assaulting one woman at gunpoint and robbing another will have to give over his DNA as evidence, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.
Rashad Palmer (Photo, Mercer County Prosecutor's Office) Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier signed an order Monday, stating that Rashad Palmer must turn over his DNA so investigators and prosecutors can look into a link between Palmer and the two violent crimes in 2014.
In the first, a woman said she was walking along the 600 block of Brunswick Avenue when a man with a gun came up behind her and demanded money.
Police linked that robbery to a crime that happened the next day. A woman said she was walking on the 400 block of Brunswick Avenue and a man with a gun forced her into a nearby house and sexually assaulted her.
Investigators linked both crimes to Palmer, who was found with some of his victim's property, police have said. Palmer - who was 22-years-old at the time - was charged with armed robbery, weapons offenses, sexual assault and kidnapping.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.