DNA links inmate to 2001 attacks on women in Sacramento

A prison inmate has been linked through DNA evidence to a series of sexual assaults in July 2001 in which three young women were assaulted and robbed at gunpoint after parking their cars, police say.

Norwood Armstrong, 32, is already serving a 29-year sentence at Corcoran State Prison on an unrelated robbery charge. Authorities say he assaulted the women before he went to prison.

Police say they knew through DNA evidence that the same man had assaulted each of the women. But they did not know who the man was until they discovered him in the state Department of Justice's DNA database.

Two of the assaults occurred at apartment complexes in Sacramento's South Natomas neighborhood, the third at an apartment complex near Sacramento State University.

The DNA data bank program has helped authorities with nearly 4,500 cases statewide since it was formed by a ballot measure that passed in 2004. It requires that DNA be collected from all felons.

Armstrong's arrest record in Sacramento dates back to 1993, according to court records. He received his current prison sentence in November 2005, after pleading no contest to robbery.

With the additional sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping and burglary charges, Armstrong faces the possibility of life in prison.