CHP arrests ‘potential serial rapist’ after three south Sacramento attacks near Highway 99
California Highway Patrol investigators arrested a man accused in the rapes of two women and the attempted rape of a third in separate attacks in the same area off Highway 99 in south Sacramento.
The CHP Valley Division Investigative Services Unit spotted a similar pattern in the attacks that began in mid-October, all within a 2.4-mile radius adjacent to the northbound lanes.
Nabil Elomari, 24, of Sacramento, was arrested Thursday at his home on suspicion of rape and kidnapping, the CHP South Sacramento Area Office announced Friday afternoon in a news release. The CHP, in the release, characterized the arrest as the capture of a “potential serial rapist.”
Elomari remained in custody Friday at the Sacramento County Jail. His bail was set at $425,000, and he is scheduled to make his first appearance Tuesday afternoon in Sacramento Superior Court.
Jail records show Elomari also faces felony charges of making criminal threats resulting in death or great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon or instrument, three other counts of sexual assault and a misdemeanor battery charge.
The Investigative Services Unit tracks sexual assaults reported within the CHP Valley Division, which has its headquaters in Sacramento and spans from Chico on the north end to Tracy on the south end. It reaches South Lake Tahoe to the east and Woodland to the west.
CHP investigators noticed that the three reported incidents each involved a female victim who had been injured. The CHP said the attacks occurred within the same area; two of them happened at the same location.
All three attacks involved a male and a similar description. The CHP said the suspect in each attack was driving a car with a similar description.
The suspect raped two of the women at knifepoint inside the suspect’s vehicle, the CHP said. The third attack resulted in the attempted rape.
Highway Patrol investigators later identified Elomari as a person of interest and were able to collect DNA in one of the rapes.
The CHP said the Sacramento County Crime Lab analyzed the DNA and on Wednesday matched it with Elomari. The CHP did not indicate in the news release what DNA sample was compared with the collected evidence to match it to Elomari.
After Elomari’s arrest Thursday, investigators searched his home and found additional evidence potentially relevant to the sexual assault cases, the CHP said.
Investigators asked anyone with information that could lead to additional sexual assault victims or witnesses to call 1-800-835-5247.
