"East Coast Rapist" suspect attempts suicide

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBS/WJZ/AP) - Aaron Thomas, the man suspected of being the "East Coast Rapist" tried to hang himself in his cell Saturday, but survived and was treated at a hospital, police said.

Police said Thomas attempted to commit suicide while in custody Saturday. According to investigators, Thomas tried to hang himself with pieces of his clothing and was taken to Yale-New Haven hospital but suffered no serious injuries, CBS affiliate WFSB reports.

According to CBS affiliate WJZ, police said Saturday that DNA confirmed that the unemployed truck driver is the East Coast Rapist. Officials say DNA obtained from the suspect has been matched to 12 cases connected to the East Coast Rapist case.

New Haven police have a warrant charging the New Haven resident with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor and he was being held on $1 million bond, Johnson said.

Authorities in Prince William County, Virginia, are charging him with being a fugitive as well as rape and abduction charges and use of a firearm while committing a felony.

Thomas is believed responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women since 1997, according to police. In the Connecticut case, police say in 2007 the rapist went through an open window at an apartment complex and sexually assaulted a 27-year-old woman while her 11-month-old son was in the room.

The rape cases date back to 2006 starting in Rhode Island. The most recent attack was in 2009 on Halloween in Virginia. Police said the victims were trick-or-treating when a man approached them with a gun and raped two of the three young women, both 17-years-old.

Click here for complete coverage of the East Coast Rapist case on Crimesider.