DNA match links convicted sex offender to 1994 San Jose mall kidnapping
SAN JOSE -- A convicted sex offender has been charged in a 1994 kidnapping case at a San Jose mall thanks to a recent match in a DNA database, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
The case stems back to the attack of a then 21-year-old manager of the President Tuxedo store in the Westfield Oakridge Mall when she opening up shop one morning.
According to police reports, a man entered the store's showroom at around 10 a.m., forced her into the storage room at knifepoint, and tied her to a pipe.
He took money from the cash register and sexually assaulted her before leaving the scene on foot.
The case was considered cold after several leads were exhausted. Recently, DNA collected from the crime scene was run through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and got a hit on a profile in the system.
That profile belonged to Thomas John Loguidice, who was in CODIS after being convicted in 2012 of the sexual abuse of a child in San Benito County. He is currently serving a 40-year sentence for that case in the California Department of Corrections.
In December, the Santa Clara County Grand Jury charged Loguidice with one charge of kidnapping with the intent to commit robbery.
The jury also found that the crime involved a deadly weapon, the threat of great harm and a high degree of callousness. He faces life in prison in addition to his current sentence.
However, Loguidice was not indicted for sexual assault charges, as the statute of limitations expired for the crime in 2000.
Loguidice will be arraigned on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in Department 26 of San Jose's Hall of Justice.
"We don't forget victims and we don't forgive violent crime," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release. "Our message to our community is that this Office will use advancing DNA forensics, detective work, and determination to seek justice. Our message to violent criminals is: 'Don't do it. You won't get away with it.'"