The Raleigh Police Department has charged 45-year-old Thomas Junior Johnson with one count of first-degree forcible rape and one count of first-degree kidnapping in connection with crimes committed on Oct. 7, 1989.
Investigators said a then-24-year-old woman was walking along Hillsborough Street when a suspect now identified as Johnson emerged from adjacent shrubbery. Police said the suspect threatened to strike the victim with a glass bottle, dragged her toward a parked vehicle, forced her to the ground and raped her. The suspect fled in the vehicle after committing the crimes.
Investigators said Johnson's arrest was made possible by evidence collected at the time of the crime and a recent DNA analysis conducted by the state Bureau of Investigation.
Johnson is currently serving a sentence at the Scotland Correctional Institute for an unrelated conviction.
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