Massachusetts man sought in 35-year-old rapes nabbed after police chase

A Massachusetts man wanted for two rapes in 1989 was finally nabbed after 35 years. It came after an 90-minute police chase in Los Angeles.

Stephen Paul Gale, 71, was arrested after leading police on the chase, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Gale stands accused of sexually assaulting two female employees of a clothing store in Framingham, Massachusetts, nearly 35 years ago, according to a statement from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

In May, Massachusetts officials charged him with four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery.

DNA collected from the original crime scene helped identify Gale after all these years by using genetic genealogy to track him down through related individuals.

One of the alleged victims told WFXT-TV, "None of this has ever left our lives."

This has "always been a part of us," she added. "It's time that this guy gets brought to justice and taken off the streets."

According to police, Gale walked into the Hit or Miss store in Farmingdale and forced two female employees to the back of the store, demanding one "empty the money from a locked safe, the store's register, and her pocketbook into a bag."

He then told the second employee to lock the doors to the store before he allegedly sexually assaulted both women while holding a gun to their heads.

One of the women told police: "He had me crawl naked on my hands and knees to the back office. And that's where the assault happened."

The other female worker, a manager at the store, said when she looked at him he "would hit me in the head with the gun, and ... say, 'Don't look at me, don't look at me, or I'll blow you away.'"

The lack of progress in the case "made me feel really small, unimportant, and just forgotten," said the former manager.

The Marshals Service named Gale as a suspect in the case in an X post in May, noting he was likely living under multiple aliases.

"I'd like to acknowledge the victims for their bravery. Without their ongoing help and courage, we would never have been able to finally have a break in this horrific crime," Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker said in a statement.