PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles police have arrested a man accused of raping and kidnapping a woman at a Bellingham park.
Lance Joseph Rosa, 36, was arrested Saturday after investigators said they linked his DNA to a June 7 rape at Bellingham’s Maritime Heritage Park.
Port Angeles Police Officer Mike Johnson arrested Rosa at a house near Second and Vine streets at about 2 p.m. Saturday, Sgt. Jason Viada said.
Rosa was transported to the Port Townsend ferry terminal, where he was picked up by a Bellingham police officer, Viada said.
Bellingham police said Rosa matched the description of one of the alleged victim’s two attackers.
Rosa denied having sexual contact with the woman but agreed to provide a DNA sample to police June 9, The Bellingham Herald reported.
While the DNA was being processed at a state crime lab, Rosa on June 13 purchased a train ticket to Edmonds and a ferry ticket to Kingston, police said.
“We believe that he fled this location to avoid charges,” Whatcom County Chief Criminal Deputy Eric Richey said in a Monday court hearing, a video of which is available at www.bellinghamherald.com.
Whatcom County Superior Court Commissioner Alfred Heydrich found probable cause to hold Rosa on first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping charges, the Herald reported.
Rosa is being held in the Whatcom County jail on $750,000 bail.
Rosa was convicted in Clallam County of methamphetamine possession and third-degree possession of stolen property in 2007 and second-degree burglary in 2006, according to Superior Court records.
He was also convicted of first- and second-degree theft in Clallam County — and first-degree theft in Thurston County — as a juvenile in 1995, court records show.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
