MIAMI – A 49-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a sexual assault case from 2014 after DNA evidence linked him to the crime, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Julio Cesar Alvarenga was taken into custody Wednesday at his Miami home and faces charges including kidnapping, sexual battery, false imprisonment, strong-arm robbery, and criminal mischief, jail records show.

Investigators said the attack happened on the morning of Jan. 1, 2014.

The victim told Miami police she was walking to work along Northwest 12th Avenue near 30th Street when a man, who officers identified as Alvarenga, began following her.

Police said the victim tried to get away after Alvarenga told her he wanted to be with her. Shortly after, they said he grabbed her purse and glasses, forced her into a wooded area, and raped her.

She told police that Alvarenga covered her mouth to silence her cries and held her against her will for an hour and a half, according to an arrest report.

Police said surveillance video captured Alvarenga at the time, but the case remained unsolved until this January, when DNA collected from the victim’s rape kit finally yielded a match.

As of Thursday, Alvarenga is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Associated Press

Boston Celtics (47-19, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Miami Heat (29-36, ninth in the Eastern Conference)

Miami; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Miami will try to end its five-game slide when the Heat take on Boston.

The Heat have gone 18-22 against Eastern Conference teams. Miami has a 3-8 record in one-possession games.

The Celtics have gone 32-11 against Eastern Conference opponents. Boston has a 6-3 record in one-possession games.

The Heat are shooting 45.8% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points higher than the 45.3% the Celtics allow to opponents. The Celtics are shooting 46.1% from the field, 0.3% lower than the 46.4% the Heat’s opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bam Adebayo is shooting 48.8% and averaging 17.6 points for the Heat. Duncan Robinson is averaging 3.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Jayson Tatum is averaging 27.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists for the Celtics. Derrick White is averaging 4.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 3-7, averaging 108.6 points, 40.3 rebounds, 28.2 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.9 points per game.

Celtics: 7-3, averaging 114.0 points, 43.4 rebounds, 25.1 assists, 8.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.9 points.

INJURIES: Heat: Dru Smith: out for season (achilles), Alec Burks: out (back), Nikola Jovic: out (hand).

Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis: out (illness).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

MIAMI – “Let it go, b—-.”

Those were the words Miami police said a 33-year-old woman heard as a man ran up to her, aimed a gun and snatched her purse as she walked in a parking lot in February.

Police said the accused robber was arrested a few days later following a pursuit and car crash in Broward County after cops spotted him in a McDonald’s drive-thru. He was brought south to Miami-Dade on Tuesday to face two charges.

D Cedrick Sconyers, 26, of Fort Lauderdale, targeted the woman on Feb. 12 as she was outside the Up Midtown Hotel at 3530 Biscayne Blvd., according to an arrest warrant from the Miami Police Department.

The warrant states the woman “feared for her life” as she surrendered the purse. A bystander heard her screams and tried to help but was then “struck in the back of the head” as he walked towards her, police said.

Police said Sconyers got into an awaiting black sedan and took off.

She received a fraud alert on her cellphone sometime afterward stating that her card was used at the Wawa at 13 S. State Road 7 in Plantation. CCTV footage, police said, showed Sconyers and two other unidentified people getting out of a 2018 Honda Accord at the gas station. Sconyers used her card to purchase gas, authorities said.

Authorities said license plate reader data identified the exact vehicle involved and on Feb. 18, it hit in Fort Lauderdale.

Officers from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department spotted Sconyers in the drive-thru of the McDonald’s at 2300 W. Sunrise Blvd. just after 10 p.m. that night, an FLPD arrest report states.

Authorities said they tried to immobilize the vehicle before he left the restaurant, but he noticed police, reversed over a median and took off.

Police said they attempted a PIT maneuver near I-95 but Sconyers corrected and drove into oncoming traffic, crashing soon after.

The FLPD arrest report states that Sconyers then got out of the sedan and ran towards a silver Ford Mustang in traffic and pulled on the door handle “in a blatant attempt to forcefully enter the vehicle.”

Police said he was unsuccessful and ran into traffic before officers caught up to him and took him into custody on Broward charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest. He was taken to Broward Health Medical Center for treatment after the crash.

An MPD detective drove north to the hospital to question him, where he made a statement redacted from the arrest warrant.

Sconyers now faces charges of armed robbery and credit card fraud in Miami-Dade.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, jail records show.