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DNA Links Bradenton Man With Rape Of Prostitute

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By TODD RUGER

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: September 17, 2008

William Santiago

SARASOTA - Police charged a Bradenton man with a 2007 rape after a national DNA database linked him to evidence recovered from the victim's shirt.

Sarasota police say William J. Santiago, 27, picked up a prostitute on North Tamiami Trail and drove her to a dead-end street, threatened her with a Taser stun gun and raped her.

DNA recovered from the victim's shirt matched a sample of Santiago's DNA that had been collected by authorities in New York.

The match in the National DNA Index System led to Santiago's arrest on Sept. 11 in Manatee County.

A Sarasota police spokesman said it was the agency's ninth arrest in the past three months that was based on a DNA match from the offender database.

"We've never had this many in this short of a period of time," said Capt. Stan Duncan. "We expect to get more in the future."

DNA evidence recently led police to arrest two suspects in the killing of Sarasota motel owner Czeslaw "Chester" Jarosz.

It also led police to arrest a suspect in a chain of commercial vehicle burglaries, Duncan said.

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