DNA Links Berkeley Sexual Assault Suspect To 1997 Cold Case

BERKELEY, CA — DNA evidence helped lead to the arrest of a Berkeley sexual assault suspect in connection with a cold case that goes back nearly a quarter century, police said.

The suspect in 1997 met his teenage juvenile victim on Telegraph Avenue and sexually assaulted the victim in his car after offering the juvenile some marijuana and a ride home, police said.

The assault followed the victim declining multiple sexual solicitations from the suspect during a drive in the Berkeley Hills in which the suspect said he had a firearm and threated to shoot the victim, police said.

The suspect, identified by police as a 49-year-old Ohio resident, sodomized the victim according to police.

The victim was able to get out of the car and called for help after the assault, police said.

The initial investigation produced no leads, but Berkeley detectives reopened the case in 2020 and found an unknown DNA profile in evidence from the scene that matched a named offender according to police.

The suspect was located in a Texas jail, police said.

On Dec. 3 the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged the suspect with multiple offenses including sodomy by force, and a special allegation of sexual assault during a kidnapping, police said.

The suspect on March 24 was extradited back to Alameda County where he remains in custody according to police.

“We commend the diligence of our Detective Division and their persistence in this investigation,” the Berkeley Police Department said in a statement.