SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A man suspected of posing as a security guard to
sexually assault an 11-year-old girl at a Target store was captured Wednesday as
he left a lawyer's office in Kentucky, authorities said.
Allen Dwayne Coates, 37, of Irvington, Ky., was arrested without incident and
was being held on charges of first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping, police
said.
South Charleston Police Chief David Dunlap said an anonymous tip from a person
in Kentucky led to the arrest. He credited the capture to a grainy surveillance
video from the department store.
"They saw it, they saw the individual on the news," Dunlap said of the tipster.
"It's a burden lifted. I'm sure the community will be elated that this predator
is no longer on the streets," he added.
The girl was assaulted Saturday at the South Charleston store after she and her
mother separated to do individual shopping.
The tape showed a man stalking a young girl and then walking quickly down an
aisle in another department, leading a girl by her wrist.
The man, posing as a security guard, told the girl he saw her steal something,
pulled a knife and forced her to the store's garden department, where he
assaulted her.
When too many shoppers walked into that section, he led her into the men's wear
section, where he assaulted her again.
Kentucky police are investigating whether Coates was involved in a similar
incident Friday at a Wal-Mart in Ashland, Ky., said Capt. Don Petrella of the
Ashland police.
In that incident, a 9-year-old girl who had wandered away from her mother was
approached by a man who identified himself as a security guard. The man patted
the girl down, and she became suspicious and ran to her mother.
Both stores are near Interstate 64, which also runs through Louisville. Ashland
is about 200 miles east of Louisville and about 62 miles west of South
Charleston.
"They are being linked together," Dunlap said.
Coates also faces a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said
Brian D. Lamkin, acting FBI special agent in Kentucky.
South Charleston authorities planned to seek Coates' extradition to face the
West Virginia charges.
Police had released the surveillance tape to the media.
They also got help from NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton to enhance the
images of the suspect.
Langley officials told WVEC.com on Wednesday that they used a technology called
Retinex to make the videotape images sharper. They eliminated some background
interference and then enhanced the images.
"The South Charleston Police Department is thrilled with the video that NASA
produced. Detectives left here with far better picture than they brought. They
expect to use the video in court proceedings," said Kathy Barnstorff, a NASA
Langley spokesman.
Langley got the tape Tuesday afternoon and finished the work in time for South
Charleston police officers to pick up the tape and return with it to West
Virginia on Wednesday.
Retinex was originally developed for remote sensing of the Earth by researchers
at NASA Langley Research Center and Science and Technology Corporation, both in
Hampton.
