A serial rape suspect from Los Angeles who was killed along Interstate 70 is under investigation for crimes in central Ohio, 10TV News reported Thursday.
Abram Bynum died Tuesday afternoon after his white Cadillac slammed into a tanker truck along I-70 near state Route 256.
Officers opened fire on Bynum, 35, as they approached his wrecked car.
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Medics later pronounced him dead at the scene.
According to detectives, DNA evidence had linked Bynum to five sexual assaults that occurred in Los Angeles County between 2004 and 2007, 10TV News reported.
Prosecutors in California had filed 19 charges against Bynum in connection with the crimes. He was also a suspect in at least three other sexual assaults, authorities said.
Police said that Bynum moved to Ohio in 2007 and was living with family members in Columbus.
"It turns out (Bynum) moved to Columbus, Ohio, around the time of the last rape," said Sgt. Dan Scott with the Los Angeles County Special Victims Unit. "So our detectives contacted Columbus police and asked them to get a (DNA) sample."
Investigators said Bynum may have also targeted women in central Ohio, 10TV's Patrick Bell reported.
"I'd say probably six to eight cases in Columbus," said Columbus police Commander Michael Manley.
Manley said he suspects Bynum attacked women on the city's northeast side, snatching them off the street, forcing them into his car and beating and raping them.
"When we got the info from L.A. on their cases and we talked about it and said let's go back and look, and that series was strikingly similar, I mean almost exact," Manley said.
Investigators planned to reopen those cases.
"We're going to have to find the victims again," Manley said. "It may not be that easy. And you're going to handle it like a fresh case."
On Wednesday, 10TV News talked to the driver of the tanker that Bynum crashed into.
The tanker's driver, Calvin Loyer, of Mount Gilead, suffered bumps and bruises during the crash. He was treated and released from a hospital on Wednesday.
Loyer told 10TV's Lindsey Seavert that it appeared Bynum was trying to kill himself. He said Bynum drove his car straight at his tanker truck.
"A split second before the impact I could him face-to-face," Loyer said. "We were just looking at each other. He didn't show any fear or try to throw his hands up to cover his face or fall down on his seat or anything. He just sat there watching me and it was over."
A coroner was still working to determine if Bynum died from injuries sustained in the crash, or from police gunfire, 10TV News reported.
Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage.
Previous Stories:
July 8, 2009:
Driver: Suspected Rapist Showed No Fear Before Crash
July 7, 2009:
Man Shot, Killed By Police Was L.A. Rape Suspect
