A 32-year-old man who allegedly committed more than 30 rapes or attempted rapes over the past six years was arrested after DNA linked him to the assaults, police said Monday.
Mark Wayne Rathbun, a resident of Long Beach, 25 miles south of Los Angeles, was taken into custody three blocks from the latest attempted attack by the man known as the “Belmont Shore Rapist,” Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts said.
Rathbun, who was first stopped by officers who spotted him riding his bicycle and initially was charged with being in possession of a crack pipe, was being held on $2 million bail.
“To the citizens of Long Beach, sleep well tonight, sleep well. We have our suspect,” Batts told a news conference.
The “Belmont Shore Rapist” has been linked to sexual assaults in Long Beach and adjacent Orange County, as well as in Seattle.
