Drayton Lamar Thompson

Using DNA evidence, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on Tuesday arrested a man who investigators say was involved in a rape more than two decades ago.

The suspect, Drayton Lamar Thompson, 42, was arrested by CMPD’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team with help from the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

According to police, Thompson was one of two men who, in August 1991, abducted a female in the 2600 block of Beechnut Drive, just off West Boulevard.

The assailants drove the victim to an unknown location where she was sexually and physically assaulted then released. Police were unable to make an arrest in the case for the next 21 years.

Police said they cracked the case after detectives with the Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit decided to re-examine the evidence and submitted DNA to the CMPD lab. Police said the DNA matched Thompson’s, who had been arrested at least twice in Mecklenburg County on minor offenses.

Thompson was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sex offense, kidnapping and felony conspiracy.

As of November 2012, the Sexual Assault Cold Case Unit had reviewed 1,658 cases. Of those cases, 88 were cleared, and 50 of those were cleared by arrest.

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