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A Charlotte man has been arrested in connection with a 1991 rape case.
Drayton Lamar Thompson, 42, was arrested Tuesday morning after detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit re-examined the case’s evidence and matched DNA in the case to Thompson, according to a CMPD news release.
Thompson is accused of abducting a woman from the 2600 block of Beechnut Drive in August of 1991, police said. Thompson and another male suspect drove the woman to an unknown location, where they sexually and physically assaulted her, the news release said. The suspects released the victim, who called police about the crime. At the time, detectives investigating the case were unable to identify the suspects.
After discovering DNA evidence from the crime matched Thompson’s, detectives obtained warrants for him, police said. The CMPD Violent Criminal Apprehension Team and the U.S. Marshal’s Service arrested Thompson.
He now faces two charges of first-degree rape and two charges of first-degree sex offense. He’s also charged with kidnapping and felony conspiracy. Thompson was in the Mecklenburg County jail Wednesday, held on $325,000 bail.
As of November, the CMPD Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit had cleared 88 of the 1,658 cases it has reviewed.
