DNA links Watsonville man to 2004 rape near New Brighton State Beach

APTOS A 46-year-old Watsonville man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of raping a 19-year-old woman as she walked home from a party near New Brighton State Beach in 2004.

DNA samples from the attack recently matched Salvador Ceja Rocha, a taxi driver arrested in May on suspicion of a separate attempted rape at Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.

"All of us at the Sheriff's Office hope that the arrest will provide some level of closure for the victims," Santa Cruz County Sheriff-elect Jim Hart said Thursday.

"We were able to get a violent sexual offender really a predator off the street."

Authorities said rapes in which the suspect and victim don't know each other are rare in Santa Cruz County. Deputy Ryan Kennedy said investigators "hope" there are no more victims, but they have not ruled it out. Rocha recently worked as a taxi driver in Aptos and Capitola.

About 3 a.m. July 31, 2004, the 19-year-old woman was on McGregor Drive when a shirtless man approached her and knocked her down a hill, authorities said at the time. The Aptos woman was choked and raped, but she later escaped and flagged down help, deputies said.

She suffered from poison oak exposure during the attack and she said she believed her attacker did as well. At the time, authorities described the attacker as a Latino man with dark hair and a medium build. Authorities believed he was scratched from the woman trying to defend herself.

After the attack, a county sexual assault response team gathered DNA evidence from the woman's body and clothes, with her consent.

Cathy Bautista, a medical forensic examiner for the county, said such exams have aided many sexual attack cases. Specially trained nurses examine victims and advise them to be evaluated as soon as possible after an attack.

"It's confidential, it's free of charge and it's to their benefit," Bautista said.

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DNA links Watsonville man to 2004 rape near New Brighton State Beach