PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The blizzard was just beginning Friday morning when a homeless man sought for weeks on rape charges was seen traipsing through Mount Hope.
The U.S. Marshals sex offender task force had searched multiple cities for 49-year-old Mark Hitchner, since a Providence woman told police that he'd raped her inside her apartment in December.
The homeless man has a long criminal record that domestic felony assault.
Officer Chris Poncia got a tip about Hitchner's whereabouts Friday morning. He and Detective Chris Rotella found Hitchner walking on Olney Street.
The officers cornered Hitchner when he ran, and then tackled him on Doyle Avenue. Hitchner was arraigned Monday on three counts of first-degree sexual assault and held without bail.