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Man Arrested On Central Coast Following Attack on Hiker

New DNA test used to help identify suspect

Detectives arrested a Central Coast man on a sexual assault charge after a woman was dragged off a trail, and sexually assaulted.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's investigators say the attack happened June 27th in the Cambria area. They say a woman was walking on a trail when a man grabbed her, and dragged her off a trail. Detectives say the man then sexually assaulted her over a several hour period before fleeing.

Detectives used a new rapid DNA testing system to try to find the attacker. They say it led them to a 31-year-old Cambria man. Over the holiday weekend, they spotted and arrested Jesus Barajas Valdovinos.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.