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JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – Jackson Police have announced the capture of a rape suspect who allegedly forced himself upon a female victim inside the Pushkin Memorial Home.
On Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 2:57 pm, officers responded to the Pushkin Memorial Home, a multi-occupant home, located on Pushkin Road on the report of a sexual assault that had just occurred.
A female victim reported to responding officers that she had come to the location to meet with a male subject who then led her into a room in the residence and locked the door before producing an edged weapon and demanding the female perform a sexual act with him. As the incident progressed, she told him that she had a friend who had driven her to the location waiting outside in a car for her at which time the male suspect fled. Afterward, the female was able to get out of the room and flee the location and get outside to her waiting ride.
Responding patrol officers secured the scene and broadcast a suspect description to other officers who began setting up a perimeter to search for the suspect. A short time later, the suspect was observed walking on Crescent Avenue and was taken into custody by patrol officers and detectives.
The investigation continued with the assistance of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office as Jackson Police detectives conducted interviews of the involved parties and conducted a search of the crime scene which resulted in the recovery of the suspected weapon the suspect reportedly used in this incident. The suspect, later identified as Rashiiva Shorter, age 40 of Jackson, was processed and charged with: unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, criminal restraint, and aggravated sexual assault. He was then lodged in the Ocean County Jail.
This quick arrest was the result of outstanding teamwork between the patrol officers and supervisors who responded to the scene, quickly securing it and setting up a perimeter to locate the suspect and detectives for their work into the evening conducting interviews and the search of the location to recover the weapon which was reportedly used against the victim.
The investigation is ongoing, anyone with information about this incident or the arrestee is asked to contact the Jackson Police Detective Bureau at 732-928-1111.