Buffalo Man Arrested On Rape Charges
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BUFFALO — A two-decade hunt for a sex predator dubbed the “Bike Path Rapist” culminated Monday with the arrest of a 48-year-old married man who police say was linked by DNA evidence to a jogger’s strangling death last fall, two rape-murders in the early 1990s, and a series of rapes dating to the 1980s.
Altemio Sanchez, 48, was arrested as he left work Monday, more than a week after being placed under surveillance.
Authorities said they obtained a DNA sample from Mr. Sanchez that matched evidence found at the scenes of the three homicides and several of the rapes.
“Old-fashioned police work brought everything together and DNA evidence sealed the deal,'” Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark said at a news conference, adding that he expects Mr. Sanchez will be charged with all three killings.
Mr. Sanchez was being held in the Erie County Sheriff’s lockup in downtown Buffalo pending his arraignment.
