DNA evidence has cleared a man in two rapes in Norcross, and a woman who accused the same man of rape in Brookhaven has been arrested and charged with providing false statements, police said Tuesday.
Anamirna Cabello-Loeza, 31, surrendered July 1 and was jailed after detectives determined statements she provided in connection with the case “were not truthful,” Brookhaven police Officer Carlos Nino said in an emailed statement.
Cabello-Loeza told police she was walking along Buford Highway when a man grabbed her arm, pulled her into a wooded area and assaulted her both physically and sexually.
Roberto Gaona Pina was arrested in Alabama on May 21, more than two weeks after Brookhaven police named him a suspect in the alleged April 24 rape.
Gaona Pina was released from jail last month after a DeKalb County judge ordered the charges against him dropped because of Cabello-Loeza's conflicting statements.
DNA was collected from Gaona Pina in the Brookhaven case but the results of the test have not yet been received, said Nino, who added that the investigation continues. A sexual encounter between Gaona Pina and Cabello-Loeza may have occurred, but it may have been consensual, Nino said.
Also this week, Norcross police cleared Gaona Pina in two rapes in that city. He was never charged in those cases — which involve separate December attacks on women waiting at the same Jimmy Carter Boulevard bus stop — but Norcross police identified him as their primary suspect.
“The suspect’s DNA is not a match to the evidence we collected and submitted to the GBI Crime Lab,” Capt. Bill Grogan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He is no longer a suspect in these cases. Our investigation remains active but there are no other suspects at this time.”
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