An alleged serial rapist wanted in connection with the 1989 rape of two women in Massachusetts was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday following a lengthy police chase.
Officers located the suspect, Stephen Paul Gale, 71, driving a dark SUV, shortly after 4 p.m. in the Wilmington area and began a pursuit, according to U.S. Marshals.
Gale led police on the 110 and 405 freeways, eventually exiting the freeway onto surface streets on the west side of Los Angeles while driving at a moderate speed, KTLA5-TV and ABC7-TV reported.
The hour-and-a-half-long chase ended at Medical Plaza Drive in Westwood, near Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said Kevin Terzes, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police surrounded the driver's vehicle with guns drawn, KTLA5 reported. The driver turned himself in and was taken into custody.
His arrest was the result of a decades-long nationwide manhunt for Gale, who was charged with aggravated rape and kidnapping of two women in Massachusetts in 1989.
He was recently identified through genetic genealogy as a suspect in a series of rapes in Boston between 1989 and 1990, authorities said.
At the time of the incidents, Gale's identity was unknown and he was referred to simply as the “Boston Strip Mall Rapist.”
According to federal authorities, Gale had been on the run for years before he was finally identified as a suspect in the 1989 case. He was last seen in public in 2008.
In May, the U.S. Marshals Office posted a wanted notice for Gale in connection with the 1989 case and a reward for his capture of up to $5,000. The notice also said Gale was wanted for questioning in connection with the series of rapes in the Boston metropolitan area.
