Ex-cop charged in attack in Union City
A retired Fulton County cop has been linked to the rapes of three prostitutes in the metro Atlanta area.
Gerald Copeland, 48, was charged Thursday by Union City Police in connection to a March 27 incident involving a prostitute. An officer found the victim — half-dressed and badly beaten — wandering alone in a subdivision off Highway 92, said Union City Police spokesman George Louth.
She told investigators she was raped and robbed, but her description of the suspect was vague, Louth said. Police caught a break when they came across Copeland, who was being held in Fayette County Jail.
Similar to the case in Union City, Copeland is charged with taking prostitutes to vacant subdivisions, then robbing and raping them. The alleged crimes in Fayette occurred after the attack in Union City. Fayette police could not be reached for comment.
"There were enough similarities to make him [Copeland] a suspect," Louth said. Union City officials have charged the former officer with aggravated assault, aggravated sexual battery, battery and theft by taking.
Copeland retired as a lieutenant with the Fulton County Police Department, a rank that typically indicates at least 10 years of service. In 2003 he was recognized by the county for helping save the life of a CSX conductor injured in a train accident earlier that year.