SAN ANTONIO – An alleged serial rapist whose crimes spanned a decade has been arrested by San Antonio Police.
Michael A. Garcia, 53, was arrested Saturday at his home on Hidden Field on the Northwest Side and booked on a charge of aggravated sexual assault, according to records with the Bexar County Jail.
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An arrest warrant affidavit has detailed the events leading up to his capture as police said his DNA was linked to six criminal investigations dating from 2006 to 2016.
The investigation had “stalled” because officers were unable to identify the rapist in the cases, but newly developed information helped identify Garcia as a person of interest, the affidavit states.
Police took Garcia into custody on April 20 after he was pulled over for a traffic violation and told officers that he “possibly had some active warrants for his arrest,” according to investigators.
His DNA was taken from a water bottle that an officer had given him while he was in custody, the affidavit states.
A forensic analysis was ordered and the results found that his DNA matched the 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 in part.
On April 22, a victim of a 2011 sexual assault was able to identify Garcia as the person who sexually assaulted her, police said.
Investigators said the suspect used the same method to “prey on the victims.”
One of the cases Garcia is charged in involves a sexual assault of a then-22-year-old woman who was walking to a store from her home on Aug. 18, 2016.
An SUV pulled up alongside her and a man exited, approached the girl, pulled out a knife, and told her to get inside the vehicle or he would cut her throat.
The woman feared for her life and complied. She was taken to an alley north of Woodlawn Lake where she was sexually assaulted, police said.
The man told her to get out of the vehicle before he drove off. She was not able to get his license plate number as it had been covered with cardboard and duct tape, the affidavit states.
She was able to wave down a passerby and call the police. Investigators were able to link the DNA from a Sexual Assault Nurses Exam on the victim to at least six sexual assaults involving different victims.
Jail records show Garcia’s bond was set at $300,000.
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