By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BURLINGTON - Detectives will spend this weekend following up on nearly 100 tips they received after announcing that a serial robber and rapist is targeting women in the Tristate.

The tips came from as far north as Columbus and as far south as Richmond, Ky., said Dan Kreinest, chief of police in Fort Wright, where the robber was last spotted.

Detectives are manning a phone center set up at the Boone County Administration Building in Burlington.

"We are answering the phones 24 hours a day at this point," Kreinest said. "We don't want someone to hang up because they are talking to a machine."

The man does not wear a disguise.

Detectives have released five composite sketches of what is believed to be the same man. Those pictures can be downloaded from the Boone County Sheriff's Department Web page.

He is described as a sophisticated, well-spoken white man, age 35 to 40, 5-foot-6 to 6-feet-tall with a medium to stocky build, piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair.

The attacks started in February 1992 at a store in Colerain Township before a seven-year gap. But that attack has been linked to the rape of a woman in February 1999 in Devou Park.

The attacker resurfaced in November when he robbed a store in Grove City, Ohio, and raped the clerk.

Since January, he is believed to have robbed five stores in strip malls near interstates.

Anyone with information about the robberies and rapes is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040 or officers with the task force at (859) 334-3500. Tips can be e-mailed to tipline@boonecountyky.org. Composite sketches can be downloaded from Web site.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com