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Sex offender charged with Seattle cold case rape, was serial groping suspect

By Deedee Sun, KIRO 7 News and Casey McNerthney
By Deedee Sun, KIRO 7 News and Casey McNerthney

A cold case rape suspect was charged with child rape more than 10 years after the crime.

Darin Lamont Bolar, 52, was charged Thursday. Police said his DNA was part of a rape kit that was collected in 2007 but was not tested until December 2017 because of a backlog of untested rape kits. Legislation passed in 2015 addressed the backlog.

Bolar has an extensive criminal history, and in 2008 was suspected of being the Beacon Hill Groper. At the time of his 2008 arrest, police investigated at least 25 cases of women being groped on Beacon Hill, all Asian, and police believed Bolar was responsible for at least some of the incidents.

But Bolar, who had two child rape convictions from 1993, was not convicted in the 2006-2008 string of groping attacks.

He was convicted for assault in a 2009 case in which police said groped a 17-year-old. Bolar did not admit guilt, but acknowledged he likely would be found guilty.

The rape case that was charged Thursday happened the year before Bolar was named as a suspect in the Beacon Hill Groper incidents.

In that 2007 case, a 14-year-old girl was the victim. Police said Bolar's DNA matched DNA from her rape exam kit.

“I believe there is probable cause for seven counts of rape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and third-degree rape of a child,” a King County Superior Court judge said after an initial review of the case.

After Washington received a $1.5 million federal grant to do the work, Attorney General Bob Ferguson weighed in on the importance of the task.

"Those needed to be tested and help bring people to justice for what they did,” he said.

Now the path towards justice is starting for the rape victim, who is identified by the initials L.A. in court documents.

A search warrant application goes over the 2007 police report. Investigators said the 14-year-old girl was walking on Beacon Avenue South in Seattle when she saw the suspect.

"The unknown B/M (black male) told L.A. to 'come here' before grabbing her and forcing her into the bushes next to a house,” the search warrant reads. “The B/M than began to sexually assault her. L.A. was vaginally penetrated with a hose and beaten by the suspect. Once finished the B/M dragged L.A. to a red pickup truck.”

The documents say the girl was taken to a house. "L.A. stated that the door was locked from the inside and there were two men watching the door to ensure she could not leave," according to the documents.

In the courtroom, prosecutors said the victim was raped seven times while in captivity.

Documents say the 14-year-old "finally found a way to escape the next day when she was left inside of the house alone."

The victim is now 24 or 25 years old.

Police contacted her after the DNA match and documents say she picked out Bolar from a lineup.

In 2014, while that rape kit was sitting in an evidence locker, Bolar was convicted of another violent crime: choking his girlfriend and then beating her with a plastic bat until it broke.

Bolar, who had at least two children, was previously ordered to undergo mental and substance abuse counseling as part of other sentences.

Among the Beacon Hill groping incidents was a January 2008 case involving two victims, age 13 and 14. They were crossing the street in the 5200 block of 42nd Avenue South when they were assaulted. In another case, a 23-year-old woman was accosted after she parked her car outside a medical clinic. Most of the Beacon Hill groping attacks happened between 6 and 10 a.m. or in the early evening near bus stops.

But Bolar was not convicted in those cases. Police said they did not know at the time his DNA matched the evidence in the 2007 rape kit. 
 
The attorney general's office said Thursday there are still 6,410 rape kits in Washington that still need to be tested.

A PARTIAL TIMELINE OF DARIN LAMONT BOLAR'S CRIMINAL PAST 

2014: Bolar was Convicted of domestic violence assault.

2009: Bolar was convicted of two assault cases stemming from a a groping incident with a 17-year-old victim.

2008: Prosecutors charged Bolar with second-degree robbery and misdemeanor assault, saying he shoved and stole a cell phone from a man Saturday who was trying to help a groping victim.  The man snapped photos of Bolar's sport utility vehicle and its license plate, and he was later convicted of theft and assault.

2007: Misdemeanor conviction for driving with a suspended license.

2006: Felony conviction for delivery or possession of an illegal drug and misdemeanor conviction for attempted cocaine possession. Also has misdemeanor convictions for possessing an altered driver's license and driving with a suspended license.

2005: Two misdemeanor convictions for driving with a suspended license.

2003: Misdemeanor convictions for third-degree theft and driving with a suspended license.

2002: Misdemeanor conviction for obstructing a police officer.

2001: Misdemeanor conviction for second-degree car prowl.

1999: Misdemeanor conviction for driving with a suspended license.

1998: Misdemeanor convictions for fourth-degree assault and obstructing a police officer.

1996: Misdemeanor conviction for driving with a suspended license.

1993: Two felony child rape convictions.

1992: Misdemeanor conviction for driving with a suspended license.

1991: Misdemeanor convictions for fourth-degree assault and obstructing a police officer.

1990: Misdemeanor convictions for third-degree theft and driving with a suspended license.

1984: First-degree felony robbery conviction.

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