A California man has been charged with a litany of felonies after police used DNA found on a Baskin-Robbins spoon to link him to sexual assaults from more than 20 years ago.
Gregory Vien, 60, was charged for two 1997 assaults after a genealogical research tool put investigators on his trail. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley announced the arrest on Monday.
Prosecutors said that in May 1997, Vien attacked a woman as she was walking to a train station. He “dragged her to a secluded area” before sexually assaulting her. In September of the same year, he is accused of assaulting a second woman while she was on a walk in Livermore, California.
Police collected DNA evidence from both attacks and put them in the national database but received no hits at the time.
In August, investigators began to investigate Vien and collected “several items” that he had thrown in the garbage, including a Baskin-Robbins spoon that he had used to eat ice cream. On Aug. 28, the lab returned a positive match connecting Vien to both assaults.
“For over 20 years, the survivors of these sexual assaults have lived with the constant uncertainty that comes with not knowing when, if ever, their assailant will be identified and brought to justice,” O’Malley said. “My office’s specialized cold case unit and sexual assault unit worked alongside our law enforcement partners and will now ensure that Mr. Vien is held to account for the crimes he committed.”
