DNA MATCH LEADS TO ARREST IN 2002 BENICIA RAPE

Benicia police said a cold hit DNA match led to the arrest Tuesday of a Vallejo man on suspicion of raping a woman in Willow Glen Park in Benicia more than four years ago.

Sgt. John Daley said 21-year-old Robert Laron Bell was arrested for rape and violating his probation for possession of stolen property around 4 p.m. outside the Solano County Probation Department's office at 300 Tuolumne St. in Vallejo.

Police said Daley is suspected of forcibly raping the woman in a park on West K Street on March 12, 2002. A citizen called police and reported someone screaming for help near the park that night. Police responded and saw a vehicle with its lights off slowly leaving the area.

Police followed the vehicle to the waterfront at the end of West 6th Street where the suspect got out and ran. The suspect's vehicle was reported stolen in Vallejo the day before.

The victim said the suspect threw her to the ground, hit and choked her, forcibly removed her clothing and sexually assaulted her. The woman said she received a ride from Vallejo to Benicia from the suspect and did not know him.

Police submitted evidence to the California Department of Justice DNA lab in Richmond and they were notified in March of this year that the DNA matched that belonging to Bell, Daley said.

Police then obtained a $50,000 warrant for Bell's arrest, Daley said.

Bell was 17 at the time of the incident and will be tried as an adult, police said. He was booked into the Solano County jail.