DNA evidence helps Seattle police arrest suspect accused of raping 2 women

SEATTLE --  Police arrested a 31-year-old man accused of raping two women back in 2014 and 2015.

According to Seattle police, the first case happened in April of 2014 when a woman reported being sexually assaulted by a man in a stairwell near the University Street light rail station.

The second case, police said, happened in May of 2015 when a woman reported she was sexually assaulted by a man while walking in downtown Seattle.

In both cases, police said they were unable to identify a suspect, but they collected DNA evidence. That evidence was sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab.

In 2017, Seattle police were notified that the DNA sample collected in the two cases matched each other.

Fast forward to December of 2019, the crime lab matched a suspect to both crimes. Police said authorities collected a DNA sample from the man after he was convicted of a felony in Pierce County.

Seattle police arrested the suspect Feb. 5 and booked him into King County Jail for investigation of rape. Formal charges have not yet been filed.