King City police use disposable mask to identify 2018 rape suspect
KING CITY, Calif. (KION) A suspect has been arrested in connection to a sexual assault that happened in King City back in 2018.
In February of that year, officers responded to a report of a juvenile female who was sexually assaulted on Pearl Street. Officers began investigating and, though they did not know the suspect's identity, they were able to develop a description.
Earlier this year, police got information that led them to suspect 28-year-old Leonardo Ramirez of King City.
The Major Crimes Unit met with Ramirez at the police department to talk about something unrelated and offered him a disposable mask to comply with Monterey County's face covering order.
When Ramirez got the mask, he threw out the one he had been wearing. After the interview, investigators got the mask and submitted it to the Department of Justice for DNA analysis.
Police said the DOJ found that the DNA sample from the mask matched the sample taken during the original investigation.
On Sunday, investigators arrested Ramirez in King City. He was booked into the Monterey County Jail on rape and child molestation charges.
Anyone with information is asked to call King City police at 831-386-5980.
