Berkeley PD Arrested Suspect And Charged For Cold Case Sexual Assault

Berkeley CA

01 April, 2021

3:26 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Berkeley: March 31, 2021 Berkeley, California (Wednesday, March 31, 2021) - In 1997,Berkeley PD investigated a sexual assault. The victim, a teenage juvenile, reported meeting the suspect near Telegraph Avenue. The suspect offered to smoke marijuana and drive the victim home. During the car ride through the Berkeley Hills, the suspect solicited the victim for sexual acts, which the victim declined several times. The suspect mentioned a fire arm and threatened to shoot the victim. While in the vehicle, the suspect sodomized the victim. After the sexual assault, the victim was able to get out of the car and call for help. The case was initially investigated and then it went cold, with no additional leads. This case was reopened in 2020 for further investigation. An unknown DNA profile was found on evidence from the scene. This DNA profile matched to a named offender. The suspect was located in a jail facility in Texas. On December3, 2020, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office charged the suspect, a49-year-old Ohio resident, with PC 286 – Sodomy by force, and a special allegation of sexual assault during a kidnapping. On March 24th,2021, the suspect was extradited back to Alameda County where he remains in custody. We commend the diligence of our Detective Division and their persistence in this investigation. Case1997-00034605 Keep up with City of Berkeley news via our News page, email or Follow @CityofBerkeley . This press release was produced by the City of Berkeley. The views expressed here are the author's own.