DNA links illegal immigrant to serial rapes

He packed his car, withdrew his cash and planned to slip quietly into Mexico. But the escape was cut short Friday morning as Chandler detectives closed in.

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Police then arrested the man on suspicion of sexually assaulting five girls and attacking another in the Chandler Rapist crime spree that spanned 18 months, police announced Saturday.

Santana Batiz-Aceves, 39, a twice-deported illegal immigrant with a history of drug charges, was arrested about 11:49 a.m. Friday at his Chandler home near Arizona Avenue and Ray Road. He was booked into Maricopa County’s Fourth Avenue Jail on suspicion of 25 felonies, including kidnapping, child molestation, sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor, aggravated assault, burglary and trespassing.

He is being held without bond.

“From the beginning of this investigation, we have believed that help from our community and good, old-fashioned police work were the most likely avenues to solving this series of crimes,” Chandler police Chief Sherry Kiyler said at a news conference Saturday. “This has turned out to be the case.”

Police said DNA links Batiz-Aceves, a heavy equipment operator, to three of the sexual assaults. Items found in his car and house also link him to the attacks, police said.

Kiyler said the arrest unfolded Friday morning when detectives were working a saturation patrol in the area of the rapes.

A Chandler task force detective spotted a white two-door Toyota Tercel matching a car described in a Nov. 8 home intrusion linked to the Chandler Rapist.

Police followed the car and stopped it about 7 a.m. Friday near North California Street and Ray Road. During the stop, a detective noticed a jacket in the car matching descriptions provided by two victims.

Batiz-Aceves first told detectives his name was Ricardo Ramirez Lopez and that he lived in Casa Grande and was in Chandler for work and to find a friend, Kiyler said. When police asked to swab his cheek for DNA, he refused.

Officers kept a close watch on the man and obtained a court order for his DNA, but when they tried to contact him at his home, they said he was attempting to leave.

“When we went back to contact him, he was in the process of loading up his vehicle,” said Chandler police spokesman Sgt. Rick Griner.

Griner said Batiz-Aceves also had a large sum of cash , and detectives concluded he was planning to flee to Mexico.

He was taken into custody on suspicion of providing false information to a police officer and identity theft and was ordered to give a DNA sample.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime lab worked overnight examining the DNA strands, and its analysis indicated a match early Saturday to evidence in the case.

Capt. Paul Chagolla, Maricopa County sheriff’s spokesman, said deputies specially trained to enforce immigration laws were able to identify Batiz-Aceves as an illegal immigrant after he was booked.

A friend who answered the door Saturday at the suspect’s duplex at 1070 N. California St. declined to comment.

“I know the cops went inside last night,” said neighbor Joe Ortega. “The cops busted over here. They opened the door and went inside.”

Laura Mailloux, who lives across the street from the suspect , said she was so worried about the Chandler Rapist attacks that at one point she kept her children home from school.

“Everybody worries because we’ve got kids in high school,” she said.

All of the attacks in the case occurred within a two-mile radius of Batiz-Aceves’ home between Andersen and Willis junior high schools.

More than a dozen children played outside in the suspect’s neighborhood Saturday morning. Some said they have played in the suspect’s house and described the family as “nice.”

Batiz-Aceves has lived in the area of the rapes for the last 18 months.

“He’s the best renter I ever had,” said Elliot Hall, Batiz-Aceves’ landlord who knew the suspect as Ricardo Ramirez.

Hall said police contacted him Friday about Batiz-Aceves.

He said the tenant lived with his wife and two small children in the unit, a beige brick duplex with a dirt yard. Hall said Batiz-Aceves often paid his rent ahead of time and notified the landlord if he was going to pay late.

Kiyler said Batiz-Aceves was deported twice for drug charges in California in 1999 and 2003.

Andersen Junior High principal Jim Anderson said the arrest was a “tremendous relief.”

“Everybody is going to feel a whole lot safer — if this is the guy — knowing that he’s not going to be around anymore,” Anderson said.

At least three of the attacks involved Andersen students, and the principal said the whole campus has been concerned.

The series of attacks started June 4, 2006, with the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl. That attack was not reported to police until six months later.

The latest sexual assault victim was a 14-year-old girl attacked at her mobile home on June 8 while her grandparents sat outside on the front porch.

All of the victims were girls between the ages of 12 and 15.

The serial predator typically struck early in the morning and targeted young girls living in single-parent homes. Police also believe the man watched his victims and cased their homes before the attacks.

Arrest timeline

Chandler police report the following order of events:

7 a.m. Friday: A task force detective spots a car that matches a description from one incident.

9 a.m. Friday: Detectives obtain a court order requiring the man to provide a DNA sample.

11:40 a.m. Friday: The man flees but is quickly captured.

Saturday morning: police are notified the DNA is a match.

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Tribune writers Gary Grado and David Biscobing contributed to this report.