DNA links ex-con to senior's rape: cops

BY ALISON GENDAR and TONY SCLAFANI

DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU

A homeless ex-con was busted for raping an 88-year-old woman in her lower East Side apartment after cops matched his DNA to evidence recovered from the horrific crime, police said yesterday.

Reggie Owen, 27, was nabbed while hiding out with some "crackheads" at the Meltzer Towers on E. First St. on Wednesday night, nearly six months after the brutal attack near Pike St., a police source said.

"He was shacking up there. He charmed somebody," the source said.

Owen, who guzzled a container of milk from the victim's refrigerator, confessed to the crime and was charged with rape and robbery, sources said.

He was linked to the rape when genetic evidence matched a sample from Owen already in the state DNA database.

Owen was ordered to give a DNA sample under state law while serving a prison term for attempted burglary that began in February 2001.

Owen, whose aliases include Eric Guitard and Sean Howell, had been arrested at least six times since 1997, including busts for burglary, trademark counterfeiting and disorderly conduct.

On June 8, Owen and an accomplice were trying to break into the victim's home through the front door when she arrived home about 10 a.m. and they forced her inside, cops said.

The accomplice acted as a lookout while Owen allegedly sexually assaulted her, then stole cash before the duo fled.

At the time, neighbors said the building's front lock had been broken for about six months. Cops are still searching for the accomplice.