A 35-year-old Troy man was arrested Wednesday and charged with a pair of rapes that occurred March 26 at a local mobile home park.

Andre Lamon Ellis, 35, was arrested around 9:30 p.m. in the 200 block of U.S. Highway 231 near the old Precision Auto & Transmission, police said.

“He’s being held on a rape first-degree warrant and a failure to appear/theft of property first-degree warrant issued today by the Circuit Court,” said Troy Police Chief Jimmy Ennis. “We are in the process of securing a second warrant for another rape first-degree charge and a burglary second-degree charge.”

By 11:15 p.m. the second warrant had been signed, according to TPD Sgt. Benny Scarbrough.

Ennis said police believe Ellis is the man who attacked and raped two women in separate incidents March 26 at Hunter’s Mountain Mobile Estates. The first rape, which involved at Troy University student, took place at approximately 3 p.m. that afternoon. The victim told police her attacker had forced his way into her home. She reported the attack to police approximately 11:30 p.m. that day and was hospitalized after the attack.

The second attack occurred approximately 7 p.m. on March 26 and was not reported to police until March 31, when the victim went to a local hospital. The second victim told police she was attacked while outside a family residence in the neighborhood.

Ennis said police have been working diligently since March 26 in an effort to solve the attacks. From around-the-clock patrols in Hunter’s Mountain to redoubling investigative efforts, Ennis said solving the crimes has been a top priority.  And on Wednesday, just a day before the one-month anniversary of the attacks, officers refocused the investigation. “(Wednesday) morning we decided to go back to the very beginning and start all over — to take each step along the way and see where it will lead us,” Ennis said. During the course of the day, new information arose.

“This has been a very emotional day, both for the victims and for the police department,” he said. “The whole police department, and especially the detective division, has done an outstanding job.”

Ellis was being held in the Troy City Jail and expected to be transferred to the Pike County Jail by Thursday morning. Scarbrough said Ellis was being held without bond on the failure to appear warrant — which stemmed from a prior incident — and bond on the rape first-degree charges was set at $200,000 for each count. The bond relating to the burglary charge is $50,000.

“But because of alias warrant (failure to appear) he’s not eligible for bond so he’ll remain in custody,” Ennis said.

The chief said he was pleased to be able to “bring some closure on this case, not only for the victims but for the entire city of Troy.”