OAKLAND — Just weeks after charging a San Francisco man with robbing and sexually assaulting sex workers in an East Oakland crime spree, prosecutors dismissed the case.

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Last year, prosecutors cited “insufficient evidence” as the reason for dismissing a 14-count felony case against 54-year-old Cory Butler. Back in September, prosecutors accused him of sexually assaulting and robbing prostitutes at knifepoint.

In one of the incidents, a robber took $250 from a prostitute and a man who was paying her, then attempted to steal the man’s car keys, authorities said. The male victim sliced his hand during the struggled, then got into his car and sped off, leaving the assailant and the woman alone together. After that, the attacker sexually assaulted the woman, knife in hand, authorities said.

After Butler’s arrest, his lawyer moved to allow Butler to not attend his preliminary hearing, arguing that witnesses wouldn’t be able to identify him as the attacker without the benefit of seeing him in jail garbs in court. At a subsequent hearing, prosecutors dismissed the case, “due to insufficient evidence,” a minute order of the hearing says.