RAPIST IDENTIFIED THROUGH DNA

BERKELEY – In the early morning hours of May 15, 2001, a 46 year old woman was in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Derby Street when she became aware that two men were behind her, one she recognized, the other was unknown to her.

The two men dragged her into an unlocked bathroom located on school property.  One suspect had his hand on her throat so tight, she could barely breathe.

The suspect unknown to her punched her several times in the mouth and threatened to kill her.  This suspect forced her to orally copulate him.  At the same time, the suspect known to her forcibly raped the victim.

During the investigation, investigators determined that the suspect known to the victim was Marcel Jarvis.  The victim positively identified Jarvis from a photo line up as one of the assailants. 

Forensic Analytical was able to type the semen found at the crime scene and the Department of Justice DNA Lab searched the database.  On October 1, 2001, they received a “hit” that identified Ronald Odell Coleman as the unknown suspect.

On January 9, 2002, Coleman provided a fresh saliva sample for comparison.  On January 15^th, Forensic Analytical confirmed that the DNA profile of the fresh sample from Coleman was the same as the profile for the unknown suspect in this case.

Both Jarvis and Coleman have been charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office with Kidnapping, Forcible Rape /Acting in Concert and 3 counts of Oral Copulation.

This is the second “cold hit” for the Berkeley Police Department in just over one year.  In 2000, Timothy Wyrick was identified in a vicious rape and robbery.  He was convicted and received three life sentences.

The State Attorney General’s Office has issued the following statement:

“Through the joint efforts of the Berkeley Police Department and the Attorney General’s Office, another dangerous criminal was taken off the streets before he could strike again,” Lockyer said.

“Our DNA data bank continues to be an important resource for solving crimes.  Criminals must know that regardless of when they committed the crime, we will bring them to justice.”

Since 1983, California law has required blood and saliva samples to be taken from individuals convicted of any of nine specified felony sex and violent crimes.  The samples yield DNA profiles, which are stored in the Department of Justice Convicted Felon data bank.  DNA profiles extracted from crime scene evidence are compared to the profiles in the data bank, and a match in an unsolved case is considered a “cold hit”.  The local law enforcement agency and/or the local crime lab are notified about the identification and can then proceed appropriately with the information.  More than 200,000 DNA profiles from convicted felons have been developed.

On January 1, 2002, a new statute went into effect adding four categories to the current list of nine violent felonies that qualify for mandatory inclusion in the state Department of Justice DNA data bank.  Persons convicted of first-degree robbery, residential burglary, arson and car jacking, as well as attempts to commit these offenses, are now required to provide a DNA sample for inclusion in the D.O.J. Convicted Felon data bank.

A total of 74 suspects have been identified by the Department of Justice DNA Convicted Felon data bank since it was established in 1994, and 53 of these “cold hits” have been made since January 1, 2001.

Please contact Manuel Valencia, Public Information Officer, for any questions regarding the California Department of Justice DNA data bank:  (916) 324-5500.

Contact:                       Lt. Cynthia Harris

                                    Detective Bureau, Press Officer

                                    (510) 981-5733