FIRST ON FOX: A suspected Massachusetts serial rapist accused of raping two women at gunpoint nearly 35 years ago led California police officers in Los Angeles County on a chase Thursday before he was taken into custody.
Stephen Paul Gale, 71, was driving a Lincoln SUV when he tried to elude authorities before surrendering around 5:30 p.m., a Los Angeles Police Department source told Fox News Digital.
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Stephen Paul Gale, 71, had been wanted for rape and kidnapping since 1989, authorities said. (Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office)
Gale was identified and charged with four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and an armed robbery of two women at a supermarket in Framingham, Massachusetts, near Boston, in 1989.
Authorities publicly disclosed his identity in connection with the crimes in May.
Gale lived in several other states, used several aliases and had previous ties to organized crime, but efforts to locate him were unsuccessful, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said at the time.
Investigators said Gale entered the Hit or Miss store on Dec. 27, 1989, displayed a .357 Magnum handgun and forced two female employees to the back of the store. He forced them to remove their clothing and took them to separate rooms, authorities said.
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“He sexually assaulted both women while holding the gun to their heads,” Ryan’s office said. “When the suspect returned to the front of the store, the victims fled through the rear fire door into a nearby home.”
Stephen Paul Gale, 71, on a US Marshals Service wanted poster. (US Marshal Service)
Evidence was collected at the crime scene and a DNA sample was later taken. A DNA profile was created in 2001, but it did not match any entry in law enforcement databases.
Authorities later identified Gale as the suspected rapist through forensic genealogy.
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In addition to the two gunpoint rapes, Gale is wanted for questioning in connection with a series of rapes in 1989 and 1990, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
