Peter Braunstein, the man suspected of dressing as a firefighter as a ruse to sexually abuse a Chelsea woman, is expected to be arraigned by the Manhattan district attorney’s office today, on charges of kidnapping, sexual abuse, robbery, and burglary.

The New York court appearance comes the day after Mr. Braunstein spent a night in central booking at 100 Center St. Mr. Braunstein arrived to Newark Airport just after 9 p.m. yesterday on a Continental Airline flight from Memphis, Tenn. Flanked by police officers, he was shuttled directly from the plane to a station house, Police Service Area # 5, located at East 123rd Street, where the Special Victims Squad is based, police said. He was fingerprinted before being taken downtown.

Yesterday morning, Mr. Braunstein stood 15 feet from a judge in Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court in Tennessee, facing felony charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on a state campus. He was being held on a $1 million bond, according to the spokeswoman for the Memphis district attorney’s office, Jennifer Donnals. The Memphis charges were dropped when Mr. Braunstein agreed not to challenge extradition to New York, said the attorney prosecuting the Memphis case, Thomas Henderson.

“We dismissed our local charges in light of the serious nature of the New York charges,” Mr. Henderson said.

If convicted of the most serious charge in Memphis, aggravated assault, Mr. Braunstein, 41, could have served three to six years in prison.

The Memphis charges stem from Mr. Braunstein’s arrest on Friday on the University of Memphis campus when a school employee recognized him from the television show “America’s Most Wanted.” She notified police, and when the officers converged on Mr. Braunstein, he allegedly took out a knife and stabbed himself several times in the neck. Because he “brandished it at an officer,” and a knife is considered a weapon according to the Tennessee statute, he was charged with assault, Mr. Henderson said. The BB gun Mr. Braunstein allegedly possessed is not considered a weapon.

In the Shelby County courtroom, Mr. Braunstein appeared “alert and oriented,” Mr. Henderson said. Mr. Braunstein seemed confused, however, about whether he had already been charged in New York, Mr. Henderson said. The Manhattan district attorney’s office filed an arrest warrant on Saturday, said the chief spokeswoman for the New York office, Barbara Thompson. When given the choice of remaining in a Shelby County jail cell or returning to New York, Mr. Braunstein chose the latter.

“He seemed pretty indifferent to the whole thing,” Mr. Henderson said.

Mr. Braunstein is looking at as much as a lifetime behind bars if convicted of the kidnapping charge.

A freelance writer, Mr. Braunstein allegedly targeted a woman who once worked in close proximity to him at Women’s Wear Daily. Posing as a firefighter on Halloween, Mr. Braunstein went into her Chelsea apartment building, police said, started a few fires, and made his way into the 34-year-old woman’s apartment. He drugged and sexually abused her off-and-on for close to 13 hours, police officials said. On his way out, he allegedly stole some of her belongings.

Mr. Braunstein – whose capture brings an end to a search lasting one month and a half – will remain in police custody until his arraignment, at which point he will become the responsibility of the city Corrections Department.