GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Investigators have identified and arrested the man responsible for the rape of a local woman in the Duckpond neighborhood on Oct. 9, Gainesville police announced Wednesday.
DNA evidence obtained during the extensive investigation has been linked to 26-year-old Greg Delano McFarlane.
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Shortly after 2 a.m. Oct. 9, a woman was walking home when McFarlane approached her near E. University Avenue and 1st Street and asked her for a lighter. She allowed him to use it and started to walk away. As she was walking, she noticed McFarlane was walking close by and asked her for her name. The woman ignored him and continued walking, police said.
Near the 600 block of NE 2nd Street, McFarlane grabbed the woman and put a pistol to her head, police said. She told police he forced her next to a nearby business and raped her. She said McFarlane then fled on foot.
The woman was taken to a local hospital where a rape victim advocate was notified and responded.
Investigators later secured an arrest warrant for McFarlane with a $1 million bond.
The U.S. Marshal’s Service Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force took the case on and tirelessly worked to locate McFarlane, police said. He was found and arrested at an apartment in Southeast Gainesville.
Beforethis incident, McFarlane had no known ties to the Gainesville area.
He is currently being interviewed at the Gainesville Police Department.
Police said they expect him to be transferred to the Alachua County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.