LOS ANGELES, CA — A man wanted in connection with the gunpoint rape of two women at a department store in Framingham in 1989 was arrested Thursday after leading police on a chase through the streets of Los Angeles, California, the Department of Justice confirmed Friday.
Stephen Paul Gale, a 71-year-old once known as the “Boston Strip Mall Rapist,” was taken into custody after leading police on a chase in an SUV for more than an hour, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson said.
The chase began around 4:00 p.m. Pacific time in San Pedro before Gale got on the northbound 110 and 405 freeways, KTLA first reported.
Gale drove at moderate speeds and avoided police PIT maneuvers before hitting a spike strip on Lindbrook Drive. Police finally took Gale into custody on Medical Plaza Drive more than an hour after the chase first began.
Authorities announced in May they had identified Gale as a suspect using new DNA evidence 35 years after he allegedly raped two Framingham store employees.
Gale entered the Hit or Miss store on Route 9 on the morning of Dec. 27, 1989, displayed a .357 magnum, and forced two female employees to the back of the store at gunpoint, authorities said in a press conference. He then allegedly ordered one victim to empty money from a locked safe and the second to lock the doors to the store before sexually assaulting them while holding the firearm to their heads.
Evidence collected at the scene ultimately helped investigators obtain Gale’s DNA.
A DNA profile was developed for the suspect and uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System in 2001 but there were never any hits identifying the suspect. In 2022, Middlesex prosecutors and the Framingham police contracted with Parabon Nanolabs to conduct an investigative genetic genealogy to develop new leads that could help identify the suspect.
Investigators developed probable cause to identify Stephen Paul Gale and issue an arrest warrant after assessing the results provided Parabon Nanolabs and additional DNA sampling of his family members, according to Ryan and Baker.
Boston 25 Reporter Bob Ward spoke with both the Framingham victims, who did not want to be identified, about the relief these new details bring to the case.
“None of this has ever left our lives. This has always been a part of us. And it is time that this guy gets brought to justice and taken off the streets,” said Victim 2.
Gale was wanted on charges including four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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