Sidewalk spit leads to arrest in home-invasion rape
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Police used DNA evidence to make an arrest Monday in the rape of an 11-year-old girl - a crime in which a man previously arrested was cleared by DNA.
Peter Jacob Inouye, 24, of Parkland, was arrested shortly before 7 p.m. as he returned to his parents' house a few blocks from the rape scene, Olympia police said in a news release.
Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said detectives collected Inouye's DNA recently after Inouye spit on the street, and the sample was analyzed by a lab.
Bjornstad said an officer watched Inouye spit on the sidewalk, and then rushed to collect that saliva off the sidewalk.
"I'd say it's unusual and I'd also say it's pretty heads up police work," Bjornstad said.
The DNA profile from the saliva matched DNA evidence collected from the victim.
Detectives identified Inouye as a person of interest in the case after learning he had been at the victim's home in the last six or seven months, during an event to help her and her family after her father died.
He was booked into the Thurston County Jail for investigation of first-degree rape of a child, second-degree assault and first-degree burglary.
Last week, a DNA test cleared David Lukas Lynch, 23, of rape charges. Lynch, who police said had been living in an elaborate underground bunker, is currently at Western State Hospital under a civil commitment that is separate from the criminal case.
Peter Jacob Inouye, 24, of Parkland, was arrested shortly before 7 p.m. as he returned to his parents' house a few blocks from the rape scene, Olympia police said in a news release.
Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said detectives collected Inouye's DNA recently after Inouye spit on the street, and the sample was analyzed by a lab.
Bjornstad said an officer watched Inouye spit on the sidewalk, and then rushed to collect that saliva off the sidewalk.
"I'd say it's unusual and I'd also say it's pretty heads up police work," Bjornstad said.
The DNA profile from the saliva matched DNA evidence collected from the victim.
Detectives identified Inouye as a person of interest in the case after learning he had been at the victim's home in the last six or seven months, during an event to help her and her family after her father died.
He was booked into the Thurston County Jail for investigation of first-degree rape of a child, second-degree assault and first-degree burglary.
Last week, a DNA test cleared David Lukas Lynch, 23, of rape charges. Lynch, who police said had been living in an elaborate underground bunker, is currently at Western State Hospital under a civil commitment that is separate from the criminal case.