A suspect accused of murdering three women and assaulting numerous others during a series of robberies targeting women in the hallways of their apartment buildings has been arrested, police said on Sunday.

Police say Gao Hongwei, 41, committed 27 robberies as he followed unaccompanied women to their homes or waited in the corridors of their buildings to rob them, an officer with the Shenyang police bureau said.

The robberies took place between March 3, 2005 and Feb. 13, 2007 causing great anxiety in this capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The Liaoning provincial police department had put the serial robbery on its most wanted list.

Some 10,000 police in Liaoning took part in the investigation since the beginning of this year.

Gao was nabbed on Feb. 21 at his home in Tiexi district in Shenyang.

Police say they are continuing to investigate Gao, who they say has confessed to the 27 robberies.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2007)