Years Later, Police Make An Arrest In Rape Case

Two and a half years after a 19-year-old was raped at gunpoint along a Charlotte street, police made an arrest in the case.

Eyewitness News learned the suspect was in police custody hours after the rape, but no one knew he was linked to the crime.

Friday morning, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police announced the arrest of 26-year-old Jason Lee Mojica.

Police said a crime lab got a match on DNA evidence last week and a warrant was then issued for Mojica's arrest.

U.S. Marshals tracked him down in New York City on Thursday.

The rape happened on the morning of Aug. 8, 2007, on Forest Point Boulevard off of Arrowood Road, police said.

Later that same morning in Rock Hill, Ray McClure called police on Mojica, who was his neighbor, for a different offense.

"He was stealing water, and he left the water on," said McClure, who immediately recognized Mojica when Eyewitness News showed him a photo.

Rock Hill police didn't charge Mojica for stealing water from his neighbor’s garden hose, but they did arrest him on other charges.

According to the police report, Mojica told officers he just returned from Charlotte, but when Mojica was asked to provide his license, he gave officers a fake name.

Mojica was charged with providing false information to police and driving with a suspended license.

When he was taken to jail, officers got his real name and soon realized he had outstanding arrest warrants for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Mojica spent the rest of August in county jail and was sentenced for the stolen car charge.

He spent 2 months in a South Carolina prison before being released in November 2007.

McClure said Mojica never came back to his street.

Despite all the other crimes, investigators were only able to link him to the rape this month when the DNA match came in.

People at the crime lab said it usually only takes a few months to match DNA. Eyewitness News couldn’t find out why this particular case took so long.

Police said the case is still open and that they are trying to identify a second suspect.