The man Dallas police initially labed a person of interest in the sexual assault cases remains behind bars on an unrelated probation violation.
Alan Mason was named a person of interest in the South Dallas rapes last week and has been behind bars since the early morning hours of Sept. 6.
Mason was picked up on an outstanding warrant for a probation violation. It was related to a driving while intoxicated case. He remembers the pounding at his door at around 3 a.m. on Friday.
Mason tells NBC 5 he was interrogated for about an hour by police and that he hadn't heard about the serial rapes until that interrogation.
Mason says he has been in the South Dallas area on occasional weekends, hanging out with friends, playing dominoes outside on old convenience store but wasn't in the area during the time the attacks took place.
"I was looking at the times, for something in the morning, you know, some of them happened during the week when I had to be at the work the next day, I have a job," said Mason.
He describes himself as a hard-working father of an 8-year-old daughter. He tells us he is college educated and works in the insurance industry. He's concerned about what this has done to his reputation.
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Police told us last week, they had received an anonymous tip that Mason had done something bad and was looking to get out of town.
"I don't know if someone had something against me," said Mason. "That's what the detectives were asking me, 'Had I upset anyone?' I definitely didn't say anything like that, as far as having to get out of town."
Police were originally looking for a gray sedan. Mason's grandparents own a gray car.
"I don't own a car like that," he said. "I haven't driven that car in over a year."
Mason said he had no connection whatsoever to the rapes. "Totally innocent, my family and friends know who I am, the type of person I am," he said.
Mason wants police to clear his name and says he can't believe his picture and name were publicized.
"I do want to say, that I am a victim, but the true victims are those that have been raped and I pray for them every day," he said.
In a press conference on Monday, Maj. Jeff Cotner, with the Dallas Police Department, said Alan Mason, who was identified as a person of interest by Dallas police on Sept. 5, remains a person of interest.
Police have obtained DNA from Mason to rule him out as a person of interest, according to Cotner.
Mason remains in jail. His family expect he will be released Monday once his fines are paid.
NBC 5's Eric King contributed to this report.
