Daytona Beach, FL - A 44-year-old homeless man is in police custody after a DNA evidence ties him to a rape case in Daytona Beach.
And Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri says he could be tied to four other cases, making a total of five.
That's the story for Markeith Martin, who now faces sexual battery and felony battery charges.
According to Daytona Beach police, Martin is connected to an August 2018 case, where a woman who was working on her bike on Coach Street was grabbed and sexually battered against her will.
After battering the victim, the suspect left the area.
DBPD then collected DNA evidence from the woman to send off to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Lab, which ended up linking the crime to Martin.
"Due to DNA technology, we were able to get some good evidence," says Chief Capri. "It came back from the lab and we were able to get a positive hit on our suspect."
A manhunt then ensued for Martin, which led to his arrest earlier today.
When he was brought into DBPD for questioning, Martin confessed to the rape, says Chief Capri.
While being interviewed, Martin was apparently graphic in details about the rape that had occurred.
"In our interview talking to him, he tried to make it seem like he was making deals with these women," said Chief Capri. "And if they don't comply with the deal, which we don't know if they were deals we don't believe it, he has to get violent and get rough with them."
But, the story doesn't stop there.
According to Chief Capri, Daytona Beach police have linked Martin to three other rapes in Daytona that occurred in 2010, 2014 and 2017.
"And there's an open one now in Holly Hill that he's linked to that occurred back in 2014," said Chief Capri.
While Martin is linked to those cases, he's only been charged with one as of right now.
Chief Capri also stated that Daytona Beach police are looking to get in contact with any other possible victims that may have been assaulted by Martin.
If anyone has any extra information, they're urged to get in contact with the Daytona Beach Police Department immediately.
