CHANDLER, Ariz. --

Here is the entire text of a statement read at Saturday afternoon's news conference by Chandler Police Chief Sherry Kiyler:

On behalf of the Chandler Police Department, thank you for your attendance.

Our goal is to inform our community that a violent offender has been arrested and incarcerated for multiple felony offenses.

As all of you know, since January of 2007, the Chandler Police Department has been aggressively investigating what has become known as the Chandler Serial Rapist case. All of the information we are releasing this afternoon is provided in the press packets you will receive at the conclusion of this briefing. Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, we will not be able to answer questions this afternoon.

Yesterday morning, Chandler police detectives were conducting saturation patrols within the geographical area where the multiple sexual assaults occurred.

At approximately 7 a.m. a task force detective spotted a white, two-door, Toyota Tercel, driving near the location of a previous attempted assault on West Temple.

During a neighborhood canvas the day of that incident, a witness had reported seeing that type of vehicle in the area.

The Detective followed the vehicle to N. California St. and Ray Rd. where contact was made with the driver of the vehicle.

Vehicle was registered to Ricardo Ramirez Lopez in Casa Grande, Arizona.

The driver identified himself as Ricardo Ramirez Lopez.

Mr. Lopez stated that he was living in Casa Grande and had come to Chandler to look for work and was trying to find a friend's house. He told investigators that he didn't know the Chandler area well and had never lived in Chandler.

This subject fit the physical description of the serial rapist and a jacket observed in his vehicle matched the description provided by two separate victims.

Based on a number of factors, information was developed to obtain a court order for physical characteristics of this subject. When detectives attempted to recontact him at his residence in Chandler at California and Ray, he attempted to flee and was taken in to custody without injury.

Ramirez Lopez was found to have a California driver's license in his possession with his photograph in the name of Santana Batiz (04/20/68).

He was taken into custody for providing false information to a police officer and to serve the characteristics order.

A DNA sample was obtained and delivered to the DPS Lab for analysis.

Lopez was booked into jail on two counts of taking the identity of another and one count of forgery.

A search warrant was served on the suspect's residence and items of evidence related to the sexual assaults have been recovered.

Based on documents recovered at the residence, and further investigative work, Ramirez Lopez true identity is Santana Batiz-Aceves (04/20/68).

This morning, the DPS Crime Lab who worked throughout the night on this case, confirmed that the DNA sample from this suspect matches DNA collected at our crime scenes.

We are convinced the suspect, now identified as Santana Batiz Aceves, a H/M born April 20, 1968 is responsible for multiple assaults in our community. He has currently been charged with 25 felony counts, for offenses including kidnapping, child molestation, sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor, aggravated assault, burglary and trespassing.

We also have information that Aceves is a citizen of Mexico who has been previously arrested in California and deported both in 1999 and 2003 as a result of narcotic related offenses.

Speaking for the exceptional men and women of the Chandler Police Department who have dedicated the last year to this investigation, we are relieved that our community is now a safer place and this offender has been removed from our streets.

From the beginning of this investigation, we have believed that help from our community and good old-fashioned police work were the most likely avenues to solving this series of crimes. This has turned out to be the case. Information obtained from an observant citizen, during a neighborhood canvas, allowed our investigators to follow a lead; which led to the identification and arrest of this suspect.

In addition to the exceptional men and women from throughout the Chandler Police Department we are grateful for the support and assistance from many criminal justice partners, members of Federal, State, County, and local jurisdictions.

The DPS Crime Lab who provided us with unwavering commitment regarding physical evidence analysis, Gilbert and Tempe Police Departments who assigned personnel to work with our task force, the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit who worked with our investigators, the Phoenix Police Department who provided support during several searches and the County Attorney's Office who is providing prosecutorial support.

Beyond those I have named, there is not an agency represented in the valley that has not offered their assistance should it be needed. This illustrates our collective commitment in the valley to keeping our communities safe.

Several representatives from those agencies are here with us this afternoon and would like to say a few words.

There is still a great deal of work to be done on these incidents and we appreciate both your coverage of today's announcement and your patience as we continue with the investigative process.

We sincerely appreciate the community who provided more than 2,000 leads during this investigation, and I am extremely proud of the exceptional work by our police personnel.