Man arrested for rape of 74-year-old woman in Nashville

Phillip Hayes arrested in the city days after the alleged attack

A man has been arrested in Tennessee for the alleged rape of a 74-year-old woman who was attacked at her home in Nashville.

Phillip Hayes, 46, was arrested by Metro Nashville Police officers and faces charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary.

Authorities say that the suspect admitted to being the man in a surveillance picture that had been made public by investigators following the attack.

Police Chief John Drake told a press conference that laboratory testing had linked the suspect’s DNA to the crime scene.

Mr Hayes was initially arrested on charges of assaulting an officer, auto burglary, resisting arrest and possession of meth, according to Metro police.

A neighbour called police after reporting that a man had repeatedly rung their doorbell and was going through their vehicle.

Phillip Hayes, 46, arrested in Tennessee for the alleged rape of a 74-year-old woman who was attacked at her home in Nashville (MNPD)

Investigators then linked him to the rape case of a woman who said she had been attacked after she finished garden work at her home.

Chief Drake called that attack “a horrendous crime” and said that the community had been “shaken and scared” by what happened.

Police say that Mr Hayes has no arrest record in Nashville, but has an arrest history in Florida and Kentucky.

Officials say he was arrested in Lebanon, Tennessee, in May on charges of driving without a license, auto theft, and misdemeanor drug possession, police said.