Oregon State Police arrested
an Albany man Thursday on charges of attempting to abduct a 21-year-old Oregon State University student, state police Lt. Gregg Hastings said.
Corvallis police found Aaron James Evans, 21, in a local
grocery store parking lot Wednesday night while responding to a
report of suspicious activity. Officers determined that his clothing matched the description of a
suspect who attempted to kidnap a woman Wednesday morning, Hastings said.
By Thursday, detectives had gathered enough probable cause to arrest Evans on charges of second-degree attempted kidnapping, first-degree attempted sexual abuse and menacing, Hastings said.
Wednesday’s incident occurred near 26th Street and Western Boulevard, about two blocks from where 19-year-old Brigham Young University student Brooke Wilberger disappeared last May.
“Because the area where the crime occurred was similar for this attempted abduction and for the previous abduction, and because
of the fact this person was arrested related to those charges,” police
will continue to investigate whether the two incidents are related, Hastings said.
While police called Evans a
“person of interest,” he has not been established as a suspect, Hastings said.

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