Family of arrested rape suspect says DPD got wrong guy

DETROIT - Detroit police say a dangerous rapist is off the streets tonight.

Police believe Darian Winfield could be responsible for several assaults on the city's east side where he was taken into custody by US Marshals at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

"I was actually with him," said Rodney Pace. "We were actually ready turn him in."

But before they could make it to the 9th Precinct, Pace says police arrested Winfield, his 18-year-old brother, who is suspected of being the city's latest serial rapist.

"I don't believe he did it," Pace said. "I know my brother, I grew up with him."

A neighbor's surveillance cameras captured the arrest by the U.S Marshals' Fugitive Apprehension Team, which tracked the red SUV to the 5900 block of Harrell on Friday.  Officers with guns drawn, multiple converged on the vehicle, handcuffed Winfield and brought him into custody.

Police tell FOX 2 that finger prints connected Winfield with at least two of the sexual assaults.

Detroit police released  a sketch of the serial rapist suspect on Thursday. After a young woman was raped on Radnor Street Friday, investigators identified the man in the sketch as Winfield.

They believe he is the same person responsible for breaking into homes and raping multiple women on the city's east side since mid-December. Pace says the sketch doesn't even look like his brother.

"That's not him, he's 18 going to school," Pace said. "And he works. It's not him.  He's got a woman he's with every night."

FOX 2: "When you saw the sketch what do you think?

"That man has a nose ring," Pace said. "My brother doesn't have a nose ring,"

Relatives of Winfield were forced to stay outside their home on Cadieux while police searched the residence looking for additional evidence.

Pace says it's just a matter of time before police realize they got the wrong guy.

"I believe my brother," Pace said. "He told me he didn't do it - I believe him."