A 30-year-old man believed to be responsible for a series of rapes in the Kaheka and Liliha area is in police custody after investigators matched his DNA to evidence collected in one of the cases, police said Saturday.

Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha said the arrest Friday night was the result of one of the department’s largest operations ever, involving more than 60 officers and more than 1,000 hours of work.

"Officers from patrol, the Criminal Investigation Division, and other investigative units canvassed neighborhoods, checked databases, re-interviewed witnesses, reviewed old reports for similarities, and ran surveillance operations," Kealoha said. "We want to thank the public and the media for their patience and cooperation in helping us to get the word out."

Police held a news conference last week to release the latest sketch of the suspect, whom they believe also was involved in two other cases. He was arrested Friday in connection with the most recent incident, at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 1, when a man forced his way into a woman’s Cedar Street apartment and sexually assaulted her.

Criminal Investigation Division Maj. Richard Robinson said that officers on surveillance in the area found a man who matched the description of the suspect.

"Officers contacted him on the street, spoke to him (and) during the course of that conversation he gave answers that raised our suspicions," Robinson said. "We were able to obtain a DNA sample from him, and that was a match to DNA recovered from the (Dec. 1) crime scene."

Officers arrested the man at his home at a Liliha-area apartment complex around 8:30 p.m. Friday on suspicion of two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of third-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree burglary, and one count of kidnapping, according to police documents. He has not yet been charged.

Detectives are investigating the suspect’s possible involvement in at least two other rape cases:

» At about 4 a.m. June 13, a man entered through the sliding door of an Aala Street apartment while the resident was asleep and sexually assaulted her, according to a Crime Stoppers bulletin.

» At about 10:25 a.m. May 28, a man approached a woman from behind as she tried to enter her Ahana Street apartment, according to CrimeStoppers. He struck her, causing her to fall, then sexually assaulted her and fled in an unknown direction.

"Everything indicates" that the suspect is connected to those cases," Robinson said. "However, we need to continue our investigation to be able to prove that."

He said the suspect’s only prior arrest was for disorderly conduct.