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D.C. man arrested, facing new charges in sexual assault case

Break-in and sexual assault suspect (photos courtesy ACPD, photo composition by ARLnow)

A 34-year-old D.C. man was arrested last month in a high-profile Arlington sexual assault case.

Police say they suspect Geremy Bridgeforth is the man who broke into a woman’s apartment in Virginia Square on April 2 and sexually assaulted her. That attack was followed by a subsequent early-morning apartment break-in on April 12, in Courthouse, in which the victim was touched inappropriately.

Blurry surveillance photos of the suspect were released by police a few days later.

In an update in the case Thursday afternoon, Arlington County police announced additional charges against Bridgeforth, who according to court records was arrested on July 14.

Following a comprehensive criminal investigation, the Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is announcing charges have been obtained in the April 2 incident in the Ballston-Virginia Square neighborhood. Geremy Bridgeforth, 34, of Washington D.C. is charged with Burglary with Intent to Commit Murder/Rape/Robbery and Object Sexual Penetration. During the course of the investigation, detectives determined that between April 1 and April 2, the suspect entered additional residences in the 3900 block of Fairfax Drive and stole property. He was charged with Burglary (x2), Credit Card Theft (x2), Credit Card Fraud (x2) and Petit Larceny related to those offenses. Additionally, Mr. Bridgeforth was charged with Burglary with Intent to Commit Murder/Rape/Robbery and Aggravated Sexual Battery in the April 12 incident in the Clarendon-Courthouse neighborhood. He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility.

Bridgeforth has a number of prior arrests and convictions in Arlington dating between 2015-2021, according to court records, for crimes including fare evasion, trespassing and indecent exposure. Most recently he served a net two months in jail on the 2021 indecent exposure charges, court records suggest.

Multiple residents told ARLnow at the time that the Courthouse break-ins followed the installation of new smart locks, which some claimed would leave apartment doors open even when an app said it was locked.