On Tuesday, Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard says DNA led to the arrest in a 20-year old rape and kidnapping case.
On May 16th, 2024 at approximately 4:50 PM, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, the Coeur d’Alene Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested Eric J. Ferguson, a 49-year-old male from Rathdrum, Idaho in the case.
Ferguson was wanted by the Oakley Police Department in Oakley, California on charges stemming from a 2002 kidnap and rape of a child under 18 years of age. Ferguson was 29-years-old at that time and allegedly used a dangerous or deadly weapon during the commission of the crimes.
Here is what Oakley Police Released Tuesday:
In April 2002, a sexual assault occurred near Laurel Road in Oakley that involved a juvenile female who had been out walking her dog. The juvenile was approached by a man who got out of a vehicle, pointed a gun at her, ordered her into the back seat of the vehicle and ordered her to perform several sexual acts at gun point. At some point, the juvenile escaped.
The juvenile went to a nearby house for help and the police were called. DNA was collected and analyzed as part of the investigative protocol. In 2022, a CODIS hit alerted the Oakley Police Department to a possible DNA match from the sexual assault case in 2002.
CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, is a national database that contains DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crimes, and missing persons. The database also includes profiles from detainees, legal samples, and arrestees. CODIS automatically searches its indexes for matching DNA profiles, which allows law enforcement to cross reference their data to learn the identity of suspects or confirm identities.
The CODIS notification identified a man who was now residing in Northern Idaho. With this information, Oakley Police Detectives began coordinating with the US Marshals Service and a detective from the Coeur d’Alene Police Department. Oakley Police Detectives Gill and Pistello traveled to Idaho on May 12, 2024 and were assisted by the United States Marshals Service, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, and the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office in serving a search warrant for DNA collection from the lead suspect in our case. Detectives Gill and Pistello traveled back home and presented DNA from the lead suspect to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office Laboratory so it could be compared to the DNA in the sexual assault case; the DNA from the lead suspect was a direct match to the DNA recovered during the initial investigation in 2002.
On May 16, 2024, Oakley Detectives presented the case to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and a formal complaint was filed against the man, who is identified as Eric Ferguson (49, Rathdrum, Idaho). Ferguson is a former resident of the East Contra Costa County Area (he lived in the area in 2002). The formal complaint was signed by a judge from the Contra Costa County Superior Court, for the charges of:
- Rape of an Incompetent Person
- Forcible Oral Copulation
- Kidnapping for Rape.
On May 16, 2024, the United States Marshals Service, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, and Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, utilizing their SWAT team, conducted an operation which brought Ferguson into custody. Oakley Detectives Gill and Pistello will bring Ferguson back to California later this week and book him into the Contra Costa County jail for the crimes that were committed 22 years ago.
“I am truly in awe of all of the work that was put into this case. Everything from the foresight 22 years ago to collect DNA evidence to all of the cooperation and assistance we received along the way has yielded powerful results. I owe a debt of gratitude to all of the involved men and women of the United States Marshals Service, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, and Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office who helped us with this case. I am well informed by my people that a great deal of hospitality was extended to them while they did their work in Idaho. For that I am especially grateful for how my people were taken in and treated.
I am extremely proud of Detective Gill and Detective Pistello for bearing down on this case and putting in all of the diligent and intricate work that was needed to bring resolve to this longstanding investigation. The work of Detective Gill and Detective Pistello are indicative of what I have come to expect out of the men and women of the Oakley Police Department- good police work, no matter how many jurisdictional lines that need to be crossed.
I am including a link to Community Violence Solutions, which is a local organization geared towards supporting victims of sexual assault and family violence: https://cvsolutions.org/rape-crisis-center/.
Again, thank you to all who were involved in this case; stay safe Oakley.”
~Chief Paul Beard
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