“If TV has taught me anything, it’s never the first suspect” Gogo Gowanus

UPDATE TO MY UPDATE: Just as I suspected. Per the Post:

Charges against a Brooklyn livery driver who was arrested in one rape and identified as a suspect in three other sex assaults are expected to be dropped after cops accepted his alibi and the real pervert struck again while the cabby was in jail, sources told The Post.

“They made a huge mistake and stopped my life for no reason,” William Giraldo told The Post.

Still, his ordeal may not be over — the 24-year-old faces the threat of deportation for overstaying his visa unless his recent marriage to a US citizen convinces a judge to let him stay…

Sources told The Post that cops decided his alibi was legit, and he’s no longer a suspect in any of the assaults.

But Giraldo didn’t walk free that day — he was taken to an immigration jail in New Jersey for having overstayed a one-year visa issued in 1999, when he emigrated from Colombia.

But he was released on $7,500 bond on July 13. Shortly afterward, he married his fiancée, Sondra. The wedding had originally been scheduled for June 8 — the day he was arraigned.

Sources said that although Giraldo might be deported because of his illegal status, his marriage to a American citizen could lead an immigration judge to cut him a break.

6/30 UPDATE: Yesterday, the NYPD announced that a June 25 rape, also in Sunset Park, matches the MO of at least three other attacks in the neighborhood since March. I have a very sick feeling in my gut about this. Why is William Giraldo (arraigned on what was to have been his wedding day) still at Rykers? Given the almost identical nature of the crimes, might not the victim have been mistaken in identifying Giraldo? It really fits into a pattern of now five attacks.

Not to be a pain here but do I have to be concerned when Ziggy licks me awake to take him out for an emergency pit stop at 3am? Because I’ve got this bad feeling—call it lack of trust—that the police may not necessarily have arrested the right guy.

First off, when i see “citywide manhunt” in the same sentence as “Dunkin’ Donuts,” my mind goes places: espesh when it’s in a Ray Kelly press conference. And when the law and order-loving New York Post is also dubious, my own doubts kind of mushroom.

The fact that the accused and his distraught fiance were supposed to be getting married in Florida on what turned out to be the day of his arraignment gives me a moment of pause. Although… it’s not entirely out of the realm of probability that a dude might relieve pre-wedding jitters by raping a complete stranger in their vestibule. Fine, I’ll give this one to the cops.

But, according to the Post…

But two men who reportedly got a look at the attacker in the first assault, on March 20 in Park Slope, say they don’t believe Giraldo was the man he saw.

“The guy they got ain’t the guy from here,” said a witness identified only as Ray, who insists he saw the perpetrator up close. “I’m 99 percent sure.”

He and another witness, Donald Harrington, said cops had still not asked them to view a lineup that includes Giraldo.

Also…

All four victims viewed him in line-ups at the Brooklyn Special Victims Unit — but he was ID’ed only by Saturday’s rape victim.

Oh man, I don’t know. But I’m not convinced.  And while we’re here, how come rich alleged rapists trying to flee the country at the time of arrest get to live large while working stiff alleged rapists get stuck at Rykers?