Accused serial attacker commits suicide

SAN DIEGO, July 4 (UPI) -- A San Diego man accused of home-invasion robberies and sexual assaults allegedly hanged himself with a bed sheet in his jail cell, authorities said.

Thomas Parker, 39, was found dead Friday in the city's downtown jail, the county Medical Examiner's Office said.

Parker was arrested Wednesday after a 33-year-old San Diego woman fought off an attacker in her garage and then chased him down the street, catching the attention of an off-duty border patrol agent who made the arrest, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday.

DNA results and other evidence linked Parker to a series of robberies and assaults, including two rapes in June 2008, a robbery Jan. 16, a sexual assault March 4, and a robbery and sexual assault April 28, police said. Most of the crimes targeted Asian women, police Capt. Jim Collins said.

Parker, who was being held on $5 million bail, owned a local coffee house and was married with two young children, Assistant Police Chief Cesar Solis said.