DNA testing helps catch a rape suspect accused of attacking women in Walnut Creek. He was already in jail for something else when police got a DNA match.
Antonio Andre Mouton is facing rape charges for a series of attacks that started at the end of June.
Sheriffs announced the arrest of a suspect in one rape and two attempted rapes at the Park Regency Apartments in unincorporated Walnut Creek.
Police arrested the 22-year-old on Tuesday night near the Pittsburg BART station, but they only named mouton a suspect in the Walnut Creek cases after DNA testing was completed.
"We are confident that the DNA that we've recovered has come from Mr. Mouton," Paul Holes from the Contra Costa Sheriff's Forensics Division said.
Investigators displayed Mouton's pictures next to three sketches done related to the attacks. The break in the case came from a citizen tip.
"We received a break in this case when a citizen provided a tip to one of our patrol deputies. Our investigators were able to develop that tip into a probably cause and arrest warrant," Capt Steve Warne from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department said.
The three attacks all occurred inside apartments at the Park Regency. The most recent was on Tuesday, when a 25-year-old woman awoke to find man with his hand over her mouth. She fought off her attacker with pepper spray.
On July 6, a 23-year-old woman was raped by a man who entered her unlocked apartment, and on June 30, a man knocked on an apartment door and asked for a glass of water. The victim screamed and the man ran away.
News of the arrest came as a relief to those who live near the Park Regency.
"Hopefully it's the right person and if it is, it's comforting to know they're off the streets," neighbor Elasia Dedeaux said.
"It's comforting. It's good to know that the police are doing their job," neighbor Jillian Dedeaux said.
Investigators are trying to find a connection between the apartment complex and the man. They know he doesn't live or work there, but they are looking into whether he has some friends that live in the building.
He is being held on $12.4 million bail and he will be arraigned on 12 felony counts on Monday.
