UPDATED, 4 p.m..  with identity of suspect

CLAYTON - A St. Louis area man was held today as a suspect in a sexual assault and robbery in Clayton and a holdup in University City over the Labor Day holiday weekend. 

Warrants were sought to charge Jeremiah McMillon, 23, with forcible sodomy, attempted rape and robbery in connection with an attack about 12:30 a.m. Monday on a woman, 23, said Clayton Police Chief Tom Byrne. She had been approached by a gunman in the 7400 block of Byron Place. The victim is a student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.  

Unspecified additional charges were being sought against McMillon in the robbery of two Washington University students about 2:45 a.m. Sunday at Big Bend and Lindell Boulevard, said University City Police Chief Charles Adams. In that incident, an armed robber took wallets and cell phones.

Officials said McMillon also is under investigation in several robberies in St. Louis. Police said he was identified by a fingerprint on the Clayton victim's car. Officials said she picked McMillon from a photo lineup, and that the University City victims picked him from a physical lineup.

McMillon lives in the 6700 block of Edison Avenue, officials said.

CLAYTON • Clayton police arrested a man Monday night who could be responsible for a series of crimes against college students.

Police will be seeking warrants this morning from the prosecutor's office to charge the suspect, said Clayton Police Chief Thomas Byrne. Police will then hold a press conference in the case, possibly in the early afternoon, Byrne said.

The suspect is being held on suspicion of armed robbery and forcible sodomy.

The man was arrested in connection with the sexual assault and robbery early Monday of a 23-year-old woman as she left her vehicle in the 7400 block of Byron Place. The woman is a student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The attack happened about 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Police believe the assailant robbed two Washington University students the day before.

Washington University issued a crime alert after the robbery of its students on Sunday.

Clayton police said that in the attack on Monday, the robber displayed a dark-colored semi-automatic handgun. After the attack, the man ordered the woman to walk home, police said.

The University City and Washington University police departments said the robbery of two Washington University students happened about 2:45 a.m. Sunday at Big Bend and Lindell boulevards. The robber displayed a gun and demanded wallets and cell phones, university police said.

Clayton police said the robber was black, 25 years to 30 years old and about 5 feet 6 inches tall. The police said the description matched that of a suspect in a robbery on Skinker Boulevard in St. Louis. Clayton and University City police released sketches of the suspect.

 

Kim Bell and Phil Sutin of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.