A New York resident has been arrested in connection to a Flagler County sexual battery case from 2015. Sheriff Rick Staly announced the arrest this week, with DNA evidence providing a long-awaited breakthrough.
64-year-old Kaivan Rahbar has been identified as the suspect. Currently residing in Melville, New York, Rahbar is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in July 2015.
Deputies were initially contacted on July 3, 2015. They were dispatched to a local hospital where a victim stated she’d been sexually battered. She claimed to have been drugged, but this key detail was not provable at the time.
A controlled phone call was conducted by investigators and Rahbar’s DNA was collected and sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for testing. A definitive reading proving the drugging could not be reached. The victim herself became ‘unreachable’, the FCSO says, and so the case remained dormant for years.
According to the FCSO, the victim met Rahbar at a used car lot he owned at the time to talk about buying a vehicle. He reportedly invited her to have dinner with him and talk about a potential job. The victim was said to have noticed a white powdery substance on her drink at the time.
In July 2025, the case was reactivated. The victim contacted the FCSO with a request for her case file, prompting detectives to once again review and investigate the details. Her 2015 blood sample was sent for testing at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania. This time, there was a positive result for Zolpidem (also known as Ambien), a sedative which would’ve been used to drug the victim before the sexual assault.
An arrest warrant for Rahbar was obtained on August 3, 2026. He was discovered to have relocated to New York, with plans to leave the country. Rahbar was placed under a no-fly status, and the Suffolk County Police Department arrested him on August 4. He’s been charged with sexual battery on a fugitive warrant. On August 19, Rahbar arrived in Flagler County where he’s being held without bond.
“Eleven years ago, this predator drugged and sexually assaulted a woman who trusted him,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “I’m sure he thought he got away with assaulting this woman. I am incredibly proud of our detectives for never giving up on this victim, and the State Attorney’s Office, NMS Labs, and the Suffolk County Police Department for their partnership in bringing Rahbar to face justice. Let this be a warning to other criminals, don’t ever think you got away. It’s only a matter of time, sometimes over a decade, but we will get you and you will be brought to justice.”
