Police say familial DNA tied the 56-year-old suspect to seven victims across four jurisdictions from 1994 to 2008.
BERKELEY, CA — A Texas man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting women in Alameda County more than two decades ago was arrested Tuesday in the Houston area, Berkeley police said Friday, closing in on a series of cases that spanned years and multiple cities.
Authorities identified the suspect as Lashay Durisseau, 56, of Richmond, Texas. Investigators say DNA links him to at least seven victims in a pattern of attacks from 1994 to 2008 in California and Texas. The arrest came after Berkeley detectives traveled to Texas this week with assistance from local and federal partners. Alameda County prosecutors have filed charges connected to two 2002 cases in the East Bay, and officials said more reviews are underway. The announcement caps years of work that included testing previously unprocessed rape kits and a familial DNA search that narrowed the field to a single name, according to police.
Investigators said the series first came into focus when evidence from a 2002 Berkeley sexual assault, tested in 2015 under a county grant, matched DNA from other unsolved cases. As the comparisons stacked up, detectives saw similarities linking incidents in Berkeley and Oakland with assaults reported in Richmond and Beaumont, Texas. Berkeley detectives then used a familial DNA search vetted through state protocols to identify a possible relative, which led them to Durisseau, police said. FBI agents obtained a confirming DNA sample, and Berkeley officers flew to Texas and took him into custody on Jan. 13 with help from Richmond, Texas, authorities. “It shows how the combination of law enforcement and sciences combined has evolved into a very effective investigative machine,” former San Jose police detective Michael Leininger said in an interview.
Prosecutors in Alameda County charged Durisseau with two counts of forcible rape and one count of forced oral copulation tied to attacks in the fall of 2002, officials said. In one case, a woman was assaulted at the Berkeley Marina after being threatened with a gun. Weeks later, a 19-year-old woman waiting at an Oakland bus stop was forced into a vehicle and assaulted repeatedly, according to charging documents described by police. Detectives said at least seven victims have been identified across four jurisdictions, but cautioned that not all details are public because several investigations remain open. Police said the attacker in multiple incidents punched or restrained victims, used or mentioned a firearm, and abandoned them after the assaults. Authorities said victim identifications, forensic testing and case files from partner agencies form the backbone of the current charges.
Durisseau was arrested at a location in the suburban Houston area around 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to officials familiar with the operation. Berkeley police said they coordinated the pickup with Richmond, Texas, officers and federal partners after laboratory results confirmed the DNA connection. Records show the alleged series stretches from the mid-1990s through 2008, with at least two incidents in Alameda County in 2002 and others in Texas. Police say the 2015 Berkeley test result was the first major break, linking one East Bay case to a cluster of similar assaults. The California Department of Justice later awarded a grant that allowed agencies to process hundreds of backlogged sexual assault kits, which produced more hits to the same DNA profile. Detectives then sought permission to use a familial search tool that can highlight likely relatives of an unknown suspect already in a government database.
Familial DNA, used sparingly in California under an attorney general policy, compares crime-scene profiles with partial matches that may indicate a parent, child or sibling. Berkeley police said that technique helped them develop a shortlist of names, which investigators winnowed with traditional legwork, including address histories, vehicle records and travel patterns. After they focused on Durisseau, the FBI obtained a reference sample that confirmed the link, police said. Authorities emphasized that the technique identifies investigative leads rather than providing probable cause on its own; detectives said corroboration came from victim identifications and case evidence gathered over years. Officials did not release the names of the victims, consistent with state law, and described some details of the attacks only in general terms.
Police said the suspect’s alleged conduct included kidnappings at or near bus stops, threats involving a handgun, and assaults in secluded areas. In Alameda County, one victim reported being forced into a car in Oakland after dark; another reported being driven to the Berkeley Marina, where she was assaulted. In Texas, police in Richmond and Beaumont reported similar incidents during the same period. At least one California case involved a teenage victim in the 1990s, authorities said. Detectives from Berkeley coordinated with counterparts in Oakland and in the Texas departments to align timelines, collect certified records and verify the chain of custody for evidence. Officials said those steps were necessary to support prosecution across jurisdictions and to prevent contamination claims that often arise in older cases.
Friday’s announcement also highlighted how money and manpower affected the pace of the investigation. Berkeley police said a grant through the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office funded testing of previously unprocessed rape kits tied to the series, and a separate California Department of Justice grant helped agencies across the region process more than 500 cold cases. Laboratory technicians revisited older samples using current methods, which can develop usable profiles from degraded material. That rework produced the cross-state DNA matches that ultimately pointed to the same suspect. Detectives said they then applied for a familial search, a step that requires approvals and oversight, and used the results to guide interviews and surveillance.
Authorities said Durisseau is being prosecuted in Alameda County and faces transfer proceedings to bring him to California. Booking information in Texas was not immediately available Friday evening. Officials said they are still examining other reports from the 1990s and 2000s to see whether they fit the pattern outlined in court filings. They did not say whether additional counts will be filed in other states. Extradition generally requires a governor’s warrant or a waiver signed by the defendant; if granted quickly, a first appearance in Alameda County Superior Court could follow within days. If not, a hearing schedule would be set in Texas. Police said they plan to brief the public again when transfer steps are completed.
Neighbors near the Berkeley Marina said Friday they were relieved to learn about an arrest in the 2002 case. “We never forgot what happened,” said longtime resident Angela Ruiz, who recalled stepped-up patrols after the attack that fall. In East Oakland, commuter Isaiah Bell said the bus-stop description matched what he and friends talked about at the time. “It was scary back then, and people warned each other to avoid waiting alone,” Bell said. Outside Berkeley police headquarters, a small group stopped to read the posted update. “This is what persistence looks like,” said Maria Delgado, who said she volunteers with a local survivor support group. Leininger, the former detective, said advances in DNA work and evidence handling are changing outcomes for unsolved crimes, but he added that the method still depends on meticulous case-building by investigators.
As of Friday night, investigators said the suspect remained in custody in Texas while California authorities finalized transfer paperwork and continued reviewing older files for potential charges. Officials said the next update is expected after an extradition decision or upon a first California court appearance early next week.
Author note: Last updated January 18, 2026.