Framingham Rape Suspect In Custody After LAPD Chase: Reports

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A man who used aliases as part of a decades-long life on the run for a 1989 rape at the "Hit or Miss" store in Framingham has been taken into custody after police chase through Los Angeles on Thursday, multiple reports say.

WCVB in Boston and KTLA in Los Angeles, among others, have confirmed that Stephen Paul Gale was the man arrested after a lengthy pursuit through the city. It is reported that he's currently being medically evaluated.

In May, Gale was identified and charged with four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery in connection with an incident at the "Hit or Miss" store in Framingham on Dec. 27, 1989.

Read more: Aliases Help Man Charged In 1989 Framingham Assault Avoid Arrest, Officials Say

The victims were two women, ages 18 and 29, who were operating the store on Route 9, officials said during a news conference at the time, which featured Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker, and the United States Marshals Service.

"We have begun a journey of holding Mr. Gale accountable for these alleged offenses, once we locate him we'll be able to take further steps on that journey," Ryan said.

Gale is accused of entering the store and approaching one of the women for help in selecting an outfit.

He is then accused of drawing a gun and forcing them into the back of the store, demanding that the older woman empty the store's cash register and her purse and give him the money.

Gale is then accused of taking the younger woman into the front of the store and having her write a note saying that the store would not open until later, before sexually assaulting both women in the back of the store.

Officials said Gale kept the two women in separate locked rooms but, when he eventually went back into the front of the store, the two women escaped out of a fire exit. They ran through backyards until they reached a home where they sought help.

During the assaults, Gale instructed the women not to look at him, threatening that, if they did, he would use the gun in his possession, officials said. However, both women were able to provide investigators with "important information" about his appearance.

This helped investigators — along with forensic evidence — develop a DNA profile of Gale. The profile was eventually uploaded in 2001 to a database, but a connection wasn't made until 2022 when a contract was reached with a company to create new genealogy-based leads.

"Not enough can be said about the two women who were victims of this crime. Their courage and their strength are to be commended," Baker said.

Though Gale hasn't officially been connected to other crimes — his identity was discovered through genealogy work, not a connection to other crime scenes — Ryan said other incidents in the Boston metro area in 1989 were believed to be done by the same person responsible for these two assaults.

"It remains to be seen whether any of those cases can be developed as being related to this case," Ryan said.