SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California authorities say they studied the behavior of a man they suspect of being a serial killer in the 1970s and ’80s and surprised him with arrest.

Sacramento County Scott Jones told reporters that Joseph James DeAngelo was taken into custody without incident Wednesday as he left his Sacramento-area home. He was a former police officer in the city of Auburn.

Jones said DeAngelo also was an officer in Exeter, in Southern California, from 1973 to 1976 “around the time of the Visalia Ransacker cases.” That serial criminal was tied to burglaries and one killing.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert says DeAngelo’s name hadn’t been on authorities’ radar before last week in connection with the “East Area Rapist” case.

That serial killer is tied to at least 12 homicides, 45 rapes and dozens of burglaries across California.

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