Alleged serial rapist in San Antonio arrested in connection to attacks that spanned a decade
May 5 2021, Updated 2:47 p.m. ET
A man was arrested in San Antonio, Texas, after he was linked to a series of rapes that spanned over a decade, according to police.
Michael A. Garcia, 53, has been charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault, but has been linked to other cases.
Police say Garcia’s DNA has been connected to six criminal investigations dating from 2006 to 2016, according to KSAT 12.
Police took Garcia into custody on April 20 after he was pulled over for a traffic violation. He told officers that he “possibly had some active warrants for his arrest.”
Officers took Garcia’s DNA from a water bottle that an officer gave him while he was in custody, according to the affidavit obtained by KSAT 12.
The San Antonio Police ordered forensic analysis of the sample, and the results found that his DNA matched DNA found on a sexual assault victim.
“Based on the facts of the investigation, along with the fact that the victim’s statements have stayed consistent throughout the investigation, there is enough probable cause to link the defendant to the victim as the person who committed the acts,” the affidavit reads and KSAT reported.
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On April 22, a victim of a sexual assault in 2011 identified Garcia as the person who assaulted her, according to the report.
One of the cases Garcia is implicated in involves a sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman who was walking to the store on Aug. 18, 2016.
An SUV pulled up alongside her and a man exited, approached her, pulled out a knife and told her to get in the vehicle or he would cut her throat, according to KSAT 12.
The woman was scared for her life and she complied. She was taken to an alley and was sexually assaulted, according to police.
The suspect told her to get out of the vehicle before he drove off. She was not able to get his license plate number because it had been covered with cardboard and duct tape, according to the affidavit.
Investigators linked the DNA from a rape kit on the victim to at least six sexual assaults involving different victims.
Garcia is being held in Bexar County jail with bail set at $300,000.
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