A man who had escaped his trial for allegedly raping a restaurant employee has been arrested by the police after 17 years.
According to The New York Post on May 29, Tuen Lee, 55, a convicted sex offender known as the bad breath rapist, was apprehended after about 17 years.
The Massachusetts police reported that Lee was arrested near San Francisco on May 28.
He was living with a woman who reportedly knew nothing about Lee’s past.
Previously, Lee broke into the home of a female employee at his family’s restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 2005.
He threatened the employee with a weapon, tied her hands to a bed, and raped her.
The police reported that Lee was wearing a ski mask and used the alias Randy, but the victim was able to identify him by his distinctive bad breath, as he was also her boss.
As a result, he became known as the bad breath rapist.
At the time, the state police also connected Lee to the crime scene with DNA evidence discovered a few hours after the crime by the victim’s boyfriend.
Lee was indicted for rape and was released on $100,000 bail ahead of his trial, but he disappeared just before the closing arguments in September 2007.
By the time the jury delivered a guilty verdict, he had already fled the state.
Authorities had been tracking Lee for several years. He even appeared on an episode of America’s Most Wanted, a public-wanted TV program in the United States.
Earlier this year, while investigating a multimillion-dollar property owned by a flower shop owner in Diablo, California, the police obtained a clue about the case.
The flower shop owner was the woman living with Lee, and Lee was working at the flower shop.
On May 28, the police stopped their vehicle under the pretext of a traffic check as Lee and the woman were leaving their house.
At the time of his arrest, Lee kept insisting that his name was Randy, but the police confirmed his identity through fingerprint comparison.
The state police said, “The woman who had been living with Lee for 15 years in California did not know who his real identity was.”
Lee is currently being held at the Danville Police Station and is pending transfer to Massachusetts.
He could receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Sean LoPiccolo, Chief Inspector of the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Region Fugitive Task Force, said, “There are violent criminals who believe they can evade responsibility for their actions. Lee had been on the run for over 16 years, and the dedication of law enforcement to find and arrest him will hopefully bring peace of mind to the victim and her family.”
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