A California man was being held on $8 million bail in connection to seven sexual assaults on vulnerable women that occurred as far back as 2017, authorities said.
On July 12, police in Martinez charged Christopher David Owens with 12 felonies and one misdemeanor, including forcible oral copulation, forcible digital penetration, sexual battery, assault with intent to commit rape, and multiple counts of forcible rape, The Mercury News reported, citing court records.
Owens was arrested five days earlier at his home and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility, according to the outlet.
Owens, 39, first landed on investigators’ radar in March 2017 after a woman said the suspect offered her a ride just after she was released from the Contra Costa County jail. He then, she alleged, raped her in his vehicle in Walnut Creek, police said.
The case went cold when the woman, who was homeless, lost contact with detectives.
Owens’ name recently came up again after he allegedly gave a woman a ride from a liquor store to her Martinez home last Valentine’s Day and then allegedly attempted to rape her, police said.
Six days after the alleged attack, police said, Owens is accused of returning to the woman’s residence, breaking in and sexually assaulting her.
Authorities said they were able to link him to the case after running forensic evidence through the Combined DNA Index System, also known as CODIS.
DNA allegedly linked Owens to other cases, including the 2017 incident in Walnut Creek and multiple assaults in Pacheco as well as attacks in Concord and Pleasant Hill, police said.
The investigation is ongoing.
