Rape Suspect Linked To Other Crimes In Area

BERLIN - New information has come to light suggesting the Pittsville man arrested for rape in September after allegedly coaxing a woman from a bus stop in Berlin before sexually assaulting her at a remote location may have carried out similar crimes against other victims in Worcester County and across the Lower Shore.

In the middle of the afternoon on September 2, a 30-year-old local woman was waiting for the Worcester County Ride on a bus stop in the Berlin area when a white male, later identified as Darrell Wayne McDaniel, 47, of Pittsville, approached her and allegedly offered her a ride. The victim accepted the ride, and once she was in his vehicle, McDaniel allegedly drove to a secluded location along Holly Grove Rd. off Route 50 and allegedly sexually assaulted her.

The victim was able to flee the vehicle after allegedly being raped. Quick thinking allowed the victim to remember the Maryland registration number on McDaniel's vehicle, which she supplied to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI). Using the tag number, WCBI detectives were able to quickly identify the vehicle and establish McDaniel as the suspect in the sexual assault.

WCBI detectives later arrested McDaniel at his place of employment in Salisbury and he was charged with first- and second-degree rape, second-degree assault, a third- and fourth-degree sex offense, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and reckless endangerment. He has remained behind bars without bail since his arrest last month.

In the course of the investigation, WCBI detectives learned McDaniel is a registered sex offender in Wicomico County. According to court records, he was arrested in 1982 for on charges related to an attack on a 21-year-old girl in Montgomery County and was later found guilty of assault with intent to rape and battery and was sentenced to five years in jail for each charge. For that crime, he remains on the sex offender registry in Wicomico County where he now resides.

Detectives have also developed new information that leads them to believe McDaniel may have been involved in more sexual assaults in Worcester and the other two counties of the lower Eastern Shore. WCBI detectives are urging anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with McDaniel to come forward and report the incident as they build a case against him. WCBI Detective Mike Lupiwok is handling any complaints against McDaniel.