Berkeley Man Arrested in Park Regency Assault Cases

A 22-year-old Berkeley man has been arrested in connection with three attacks on young women, one a rape, that occurred in the Park Regency apartments in unincorporated Walnut Creek over the past six weeks.

The Contra Costa Sheriff's Department Friday afternoon identified the suspect "who has terrorized the citizens there," as Antonio Andre Mouton.  

"We're all relieved this individual has been caught," said Sheriff's Captain Steve Warne. "That was at the forefront of everyone's thoughts for the last six weeks."

Mouton was arrested Tuesday evening at the Pittsburg BART station. Subsequent DNA and other  evidence led police to connect him to the rape of a 23-year-old woman, as well as to two other attacks that occurred at the Oak Road complex between June 30 and this past Tuesday.

Sheriff's criminalists comparing the sample to DNA evidence from the rape could not rule out Mouton as the source, authorities said.

"We were able to recover DNA evidence that we were confident had come from the offender," said Paul Holes, chief of the sheriff's forensic services division.

Mouton has been booked into Contra Costa County Jail on one count of rape, two counts of attempted rape and three charges of burglary. His bail has been set at $12.5 million.

Investigators are still trying to figure what, if any, connection Mouton had to the 892-unit apartment Park Regency complex, a few blocks north of the Pleasant Hill Bart station.

Warne said that Mouton did not work for the Park Regency complex and it's unknown if he had friends living there.

Warne said the break in the case came when a citizen provided a tip to sheriff's deputies about Mouton. Warne declined to elaborate further but deputies found Mouton at the Pittsburg BART station and obtained a court-ordered DNA sample from him.

Authorities could not say why Mouton was in a car at the Pittsburg BART station, and it's not clear whether he was using BART to get to the Park Regency complex.

Other outstanding questions include how he gained entrance to the apartment of the latest victim, who was attacked Tuesday morning.

The 25-year-old woman said she had locked the front door of her third-floor unit.

She said she woke up at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to find a man with his hand over her mouth, telling her to not to scream.

The man threatened the woman, but she struggled and was able to get free. The woman's mother told the Contra Costa Times that her daughter had a can of pepper spray within reach and "emptied it into his face."

During the past six weeks, three women have reported being assaulted in their Park Regency apartments.

In the first case, a Park Regency resident opened her front door at about 1:30 a.m. June 30 to a man knocking  and asking for water. When the man tried to grab her, she cried out and her boyfriend intervened. 

On July 6, a woman was awakened in her apartment while she was sleeping and raped.  The woman said she had left her front door unlocked.

The third attack occurred Tuesday morning, and prompted an immediate response by deputies who searched the area but could not find the assailant.