BLACKSBURG - The summer's rash of sexual assaults, in which a man walked into unlocked apartments and fondled women while they slept, has stopped without an arrest. But police are still hoping to link evidence to a suspect.

No one has been charged in connection with the four incidents that occurred between July 1 and July 16 at Terrace View and Oak Bridge apartments in northeast Blacksburg, but the case remains under investigation, said Lt. Donnie Goodman of the Blacksburg Police Department. Police have sent evidence recovered from those apartments to the state forensic lab for analysis and would like to see that evidence lead to a suspect, Goodman said. He did not specify what the evidence was.

"We've looked at some other suspects from some other jurisdictions, but those have not panned out," Goodman said.

In earlier court proceedings, police named a Blacksburg man, 23-year-old Timothy Andrew Darnall, as a "person of interest" in the case. Darnall was charged in an unrelated nighttime breaking and entering after a patrol officer caught him at an apartment in the same northeast neighborhood. The apartment was occupied by a woman who was home alone, but investigators have brought no new charges against him.

Defense attorney Christopher Tuck said a similar breaking and entering occurred 45 minutes after Darnall was arrested July 30, which leads him to believe Darnall isn't a viable suspect.

"The bottom line is the assaults have stopped," Goodman said.

All four assaults occurred in the early morning hours at apartments with unlocked doors and appear to be related, police said.

Once inside, the man removed items of clothing from his victims and fondled them; when the victims woke up, he fled through doors propped open as escape routes, police said.

None of the victims were able to give police a detailed description of the man. Police ask that anyone with information about the case call 961-1150.