ARLINGTON – A 24-year-old Arlington man is being charged with two counts of first-degree rape.

Dean T. Connors was jailed Sept. 20 after being arrested for an alleged rape outside of Snohomish last April.

The victim, a 42-year-old Everett woman, reported the rape April 26. She told Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives that she had been walking along Highway 9 when a man in his 20’s driving a white box truck offered her a ride.

After getting in the truck, the victim said the driver pulled over and started to choke her, then raped her at knifepoint.

The victim then ran out into the roadway, and a bystander called 9-1-1.

Evidence was sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab. On August 30, detectives were informed that the DNA matched a sample submitted by Everett Police Department detectives in a 2014 rape case they were investigating.

Working with the victims from both cases, detectives identified Connors as a suspect.

Connors was interviewed by police and was booked into the Snohomish County jail in Everett on suspicion of first-degree rape.

Connors allegedly admitted to detectives that he had nonconsensual, violent sex with a woman last April. That victim reportedly identified Connors as the perpetrator.

Detectives noted that Connors had driven a white utility truck to his interview with Everett police. Sheriff’s detectives recommended Sept. 21 that Connors receive an additional first-degree rape charge.