Hospital Visit Leads to Rape Arrest
Santa Barbara – Michael Joseph Holden, 36, who had eluded Santa Barbara Police Department Detectives since February 2012, was arrested July 15th in Palo Alto, California.
For the prior five months, pursuant to a cheek-swab DNA test taken during a probation office visit which alerted him to the probability that he was a suspect in a Santa Barbara “rape by intoxication” case, Holden had avoided authorities by traveling to Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, and other locations throughout Mexico.
The criminal allegation of rape came as the result of a reported pregnancy of a 29-year-old female with whom Holden had a relationship of three months as of September 2011. Following a night of drinking at local nightclubs and cocktail lounges, the young woman allegedly awakened in Holden’s bed with suspicions of unwanted sexual contact while she was intoxicated and unconscious. According to Santa Barbara Police Department Public Affairs Sgt. Riley Harwood, Holden denied having sexual contact with her that night.
A month later, however, the female discovered she was pregnant. “She confronted Holden with this information, and he denied being responsible,” Harwood reported to the media. Shortly thereafter, the female aborted the pregnancy and authorities took possession of the fetal remains to perform “one of the worst jobs we have,” as Harwood described the process of gathering evidence for DNA testing at the California Department of Justice Crime Lab.
It was shortly thereafter, during a meeting with his probation officer, that Holden was confronted by SBPD Detective Brian Larson who surprised him with a DNA swab test. Holden provided his DNA sample and promptly fled to Mexico. During his south-of-the-border sojourn, Holden’s DNA was reported by CDJ as a match to the fetal remains and a warrant for his arrest was ordered by the Santa Barbara Superior Court.
Stanford University Hospital
But Holden returned from Mexico and traveled to Palo Alto where he is suspected of conducting a number of residential burglaries. Suffering abdominal pain, however, Holden was forced to check into Stanford University Hospital Emergency. While undergoing treatment for a hernia, Holden was surprised by Palo Alto detectives armed with the Santa Barbara arrest warrant. He was taken into custody without incident, undoubtedly wishing the doctors had given him a double-dose of pain meds.
Holden was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail on July 19th and booked on charges of rape of an unconscious person, rape of an intoxicated person, penetration of an intoxicated person with a foreign object, sexual battery, and use of a controlled substance, with bail set at $1,000,000.
Photos: courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking; Stanford University Hospital
Read More:
Noozhawk: Man Arrested on Suspicion of Rape by Intoxication
LAWeekly: Michael Joseph Holden – A Tale of Booze, Rape, Abortion and DNA from Aborted Fetus
