Assault suspect absent at hearing

A Spokane man suspected of pouring semen into women’s hair at the NorthTown and Spokane Valley malls became a fugitive Monday when he failed to appear for a pretrial hearing in Spokane County District Court.

Judge Gregory Tripp ordered an arrest warrant for 31-year-old Roderick Glenn Thomas, who is facing three counts of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation.

Thomas has been free on $500 bail, but Tripp set a new bail of $3,500.

Thomas was charged in March, when several women identified him in a photo lineup.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Thomas at his home at 1604 E. North Crescent Ave.

Sheriff’s Detective Doug Marske got the case after a woman who works at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the Spokane Valley Mall filed an assault report.

She told a Spokane Valley police officer that a man approached her in the store, where she was seated on the floor to arrange books on a lower shelf, and asked where dictionaries were located.

Soon after that, the woman smelled what she thought might be animal urine and noticed that the back of her shirt was wet.

She preserved the evidence by leaving the shirt to dry when she went home to change clothes.

Marske conferred with Spokane police crime analyst Ryan Shaw and discovered several other women had reported similar incidents at the NorthTown and Spokane Valley malls.

All the women said a man poured a liquid, believed to be semen, in their hair from behind.

The reports dated back to June 2004.

If convicted, Thomas would not be required to register as a sex offender.

Fourth-degree assault is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by no more than a year in the county jail.