Rape Suspect Escapes Miami Jail

An inmate accused of raping seven girls and women in the Little Havana neighborhood escaped a Miami-Dade County jail by climbing down from the roof using bed sheets tied together, police said Wednesday.

Reynaldo E. Rapalo, a 34-year-old Honduran native, escaped from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Tuesday, police said. Another man who tried to escape with him was caught after he broke a leg while jumping.

Rapalo was considered armed and dangerous, although there was no specific information on what weapon he had, police spokeswoman Amy Salas-Jacobson said. She had no other information on the escape and a jail spokeswoman didn't return a phone message.

Rapalo was awaiting trial for the rapes he was linked to using DNA evidence. He was arrested in September 2003 after a massive manhunt and accused of raping seven victims, ages 11 to 79, and attempting to attack four others.

If convicted, Rapalo faces up to life in prison.

The crimes kept the Little Havana neighborhood on edge for a year. The women were sometimes raped inside their homes.

Police said DNA evidence also showed Rapalo unsuccessfully tried to attack a woman hanging her laundry in the middle of the day, which led to his arrest.

His attorney, Herbert Smith, didn't return a phone message.