MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - 34-year-old Michael Richardson is locked up at the Shelby County Jail, accused of raping three women. Richardson has been arrested for rape before. He was sent to prison after raping a woman in 2007 and was released in August of 2010.
According to the police affidavit, Richardson picked up a woman that was walking near Summer and Highland on July 7. Nearly a month later on august 4 he picked up another woman at Jackson and National. Then on October 17 a woman walking in the area of Summer and Highland says Richardson offered her a ride.
Detectives with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office say in each case Richardson drove the women to locations in east Shelby County and raped them.
The rape that happened in August was particularly violent. During that assault detectives say Richardson almost bit the woman's finger off after she tried to fight him off. He also robbed the woman of $27.
"I was shocked," said Linda Taylor, Richardson's sister-in-law. Taylor says she was overwhelmed with emotions after Shelby County Sheriff's detectives showed up at their Fayette County home to arrest her sister's husband.
"I've never known him to steal, take from anybody, assault anybody. I've never known him to do that," she said.
Michael Richardson is charged with two counts of Aggravated Rape, one count of Rape and one count of Aggravated Robbery. He is being held at the Shelby County Jail on a $2 million bond.
