Cleared Person of Interest in South Dallas Rape Case Still Jailed

Alan Mason will spend another weekend in jail, even though Dallas Police say he is no longer a person of interest in the South Dallas rape investigation.

"It's probably one of the worst weeks of my life. I'm glad it's almost over," Mason said Friday from the Dallas County Jail.

The 29-year-old insurance agent was arrested at his Arlington apartment last weekend after Dallas Police Chief David Brown named Mason as "person of interest" on Twitter.

An informant fingered Mason, but DNA tests later linked 38-year-old Van Dralan Dixson to several of the sexual assaults.

The DNA tests cleared Mason.

Nine women were raped since June in the area east and south of Dallas Fair Park.

"The women are the true victims," Mason said. "I don't want to take any attention from what happened to them because that was way worse than what I’m going through."

Mason remains jailed for an outstanding DUI probation violation but he believes the time he is serving in jail will satisfy that case by Monday.

He might never have wound up in jail for that case if not for the rape investigation.

His grandmother Shirley Clerkley is upset that police have not apologized. She worries Mason's good reputation will be tarnished by the incorrect connection to a rape investigation.

"He's not that type of guy. He's a real good guy. He's respected wherever he goes and he respects other people," she said.

Mason is considering a lawsuit over what happened, but he believes his job will still be waiting for him and he's hoping to get his regular life back in order.

"First step is to get out of here, go to the barbershop, get my appearance back right, visit my daughter, go to my grand mother's house, eat dinner," he said.

Dixson was arrested in Louisiana this week. He will be transferred to the Dallas County Jail at some future date.

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