Deputies with the Cold Case Unit in Pinellas County placed a man under arrest as they say he is a suspect in a sexual battery case from 28 years ago.
On Tuesday, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lester Austin III, now 53, after they say the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Genetic Genealogy Team discovered new information related to the case. Detectives say they confirmed the suspect through investigative techniques.
According to deputies, the cold case began back in March 8, 1998.
PCSO says a woman, who was 20 years old at the time, went to a club in Ybor City with a group of friends. She left the club alone and two men offered to give her a ride home to Pinellas County.
Detectives said that after one of the men got dropped off, Austin drove towards Pinellas County, but instead of taking her home, he parked the car in a wooded area on the north side of Gandy Bridge. When the woman tried to exit the car, deputies say Austin locked the car doors and hit her multiple times in the face.
Austin proceeded to sexually batter the woman while threatening her with a gun, detectives explained. Then, the suspect hit her again and threatened to kill her if she called the police, and then told her to get out. Austin then left and drove to Tampa, deputies said.
Detectives said that the woman then ran and reported the sexual battery to a passerby who took her to a nearby business to call 911. At the time, deputies responded and due to serious injuries, she was taken to the hospital.
DNA evidence was collected from the victim after the Sexual Assault Victim Examination (SAVE) was completed, according to PCSO. The FDLE got the DNA and created a profile of the suspect, which was uploaded into national and state databases, deputies said. At the time, no matches were found.
Years later, in October of 2018, the FDLE announced the genetic genealogy program initiative, and in October of 2019, they accepted the cold case to perform genealogy mapping, PCSO said.
“This testing allows detectives to work backward from the identified family member, toward the unknown suspect,” PCSO said. Then, in September of 2021, FDLE provided three names from the suspect’s family tree to detectives to investigate.
Detectives were able to follow the leads and get new information in the case. Then, in April of this year, FDLE and detectives were able to identify and confirm that Austin was the suspect, deputies said.
A U.S. Marshal’s Task Force found Austin at his residence in Tampa and took him into custody, PCSO said. Austin was then taken to Pinellas County Jail, where he is currently still being held.
According to jail records, Austin was charged with armed sexual battery.