PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Pennsauken, New Jersey man has been sentenced for a crime committed more than two decades ago, after a DNA sample from a traffic stop connected him to a sexual assault case.
Mount Laurel Police were notified that DNA from a 1997 case was linked to Rodolfo Vasquez.
Vasquez, 63, had to submit a sample after he pleaded guilty to driving without a license in 2019 in Cinnaminson Township, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said.
Investigators issued a search warrant and collected another DNA sample from Vasquez that matched the 1997 investigation.
The prosecutor's office said 25 years ago, Vasquez forced himself into a Mount Laurel home, grabbed a woman who was by herself, struck her in the head, and sexually assaulted her. He told the woman not to call police and then fled the house, according to prosecutors.
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The victim is said to have hit Vasquez several times, permanently damaging vision in one of his eyes.
At the time, the woman said the assault happened in the dark, and she wasn't able to provide a description.
Vasquez was sentenced to eight years in a New Jersey state prison.