A suspect has been arrested in connection with a pair of sexual assaults that occurred earlier this year on a bike trail just south of Kenosha.
The D-N-A of 32 year-old Reginaldo Etienne, a sample of which is on file with law enforcement as a result of a prior conviction, allegedly was found to match the D-N-A of one of the victims.
Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Beth made the announcement at a late afternoon news conference. "The bike trail is safer with Reginaldo out of the area," said Beth, adding a note of caution: "But that still doesn't mean there can't be someone else out there in the future."
In March, a 67 year-old woman was jumped as she was walking along the trail in broad daylight. In the second incident last month. an 18 year-old woman was assaulted. But she fought back with the help of pepper spray, according to Beth. "Some of the evidence of her fighting back is what we sent to the crime lab," he said.
At the time the match was made, Etienne was in the Lake County Jail, where he was being held on a probation violation. Etienne was then transferred to the Kenosha County Jail, where he was also wanted on a probation violation, unaware that he had risen to the top of the list of suspects in the sexual assaults.
Etienne, who reportedly has no permanent address, is expected to be charged Friday with two counts of second degree sexual assault with the use of force, one county of aggravated battery to the elderly and single counts each of battery and theft.
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