Man arrested for 2 cold-case sexual assaults in Phoenix

PHOENIX - Phoenix Police say they have arrested a man in connection to two cold-case sexual assaults.

According to police, 32-year-old Zackarias Mudasir was arrested for the sexual assault of a 19-year-old in 2016, and a 13-year-old in 2017.

"PHXPDAdultCrimesColdCaseUnit detectives used DNA to link him to the assaults and obtained a warrant for his arrest," the department tweeted on March 16.

"The DNA collected from him was from a different arrest: pandering prostitution, and the lab was able to connect the DNA to several prior sexual assault cases," said Det. Jeff Starks with Phoenix Police.

Mudasir was also arrested in 2019 after he was found trespassing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Police said the new cold case unit started last December, and has made 11 cold-case arrests.

"It's comprised of six detectives with various levels of expertise," said Sgt. Phil Krynsky with the Phoenix Police Department. "It's been tireless work that they've been doing, reviewing cases as old since 1995."

Det. Starks, meanwhile, said they hope to bring justice to more crime victims, with the help of new DNA technology.

"Contant changes in technology allow us to do it faster, more certain, and with more and more people being arrested, their DNA collected, those samples are going to be compared with sample already in the system, and more and more of these cases are going to bump up where we have identified suspects," said Det. Starks.

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