Suspect In '91 Rape At Day-Care Arrested

A man wanted in connection with a rape at an Everett day-care more than five years ago has been apprehended in Arizona with the help of DNA testing, authorities said.

Brian Eugene Breault, 28, of Bothell, was arrested in or near Kingman, Ariz., late Friday, Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor John Crowley said yesterday.

Breault was held as a fugitive from justice in Mohave County (Ariz.) Jail and was being interviewed by Everett detectives, Crowley said. He is expected to have an extradition hearing tomorrow.

Snohomish County authorities Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Breault, charging him with entering an Everett day-care early Feb. 20, 1991, and raping a young woman who was alone there.

Police had investigated several people as suspects, but they were eliminated through DNA testing.

Then last May, authorities got an unexpected break in the case when a scientist at the State Patrol Crime Laboratory, comparing the DNA sample from the crime scene against new additions to the DNA databank of felons, got a match when he compared the sample with Breault's DNA pattern. Breault's pattern had been added to the databank when he was convicted of second-degree assault in 1993.

On July 18, Everett detectives got a warrant to obtain blood samples from Breault. Breault denied knowledge of the rape, but five days later he abruptly quit his job at a local restaurant, telling acquaintances he was leaving the state.

Crowley said detectives in Everett have spent the past two months tracking Breault, who got a job in Arizona as a truck driver.

A second test of Breault's DNA pattern, completed in late September, again showed a match with DNA recovered at the crime scene, Crowley said.