DNA leads to arrest in another old rape case

For the second time in less than a week, Philadelphia police have announced charges in a rape case more than a decade old, thanks to advances in DNA technology.

In the latest case, detectives arrested a man they believe picked up an 18-year-old woman in 1999, took her to a house, and repeatedly raped her at gunpoint.

Investigators resubmitted the DNA evidence and learned in April that a match had been made to Omar Best, 33, a Philadelphia man serving a sentence at Huntingdon Prison, Capt. John Darby, commander of the Special Victims Unit, said yesterday. Best was charged on Thursday with rape, robbery, and other crimes.

"The message to the public is, 'We do not forget,' " Darby said. "Eleven years later, we're still looking for the offender."

Last week, Darby announced charges against Calvin Gadson, 33, in the 1998 rape of a 15-year-old girl.

In both cases, the suspects were required after felony convictions to submit DNA, which was then linked to the rapes through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System.

Darby said detectives were constantly reviewing cases and resubmitting DNA evidence to take advantage of advances in technology. The unit also has used federal grant money to work cold cases with DNA evidence.

Darby said he was unsure when DNA was collected from Gadson or Best, or when detectives resubmitted the evidence in their cases.

Once a match was made in the Best case, Darby said, detectives tracked down the victim, now 29, and reinterviewed her.

State police also had to confirm the DNA match, and Philadelphia detectives had to obtain a "reference sample" from Best, who is serving from 81/2 to 17 years for his 2000 convictions on robbery, indecent-assault and aggravated-assault charges.

The new sample was tested and again linked Best to the 1999 rape, Darby said.

Victims in cold cases have "mixed emotions" when they learn of an arrest, he said.

"I guess the most obvious is shock," he said. "But, obviously, they're elated that no one forgot."

Darby said the victim in the 1999 case got into a car at Broad Street and Erie Avenue in Tioga, believing that Best was an unlicensed cabdriver.

Instead, Best pulled a gun and took the woman to a house in the 1900 block of West Stiles Street in North Philadelphia, where he raped and robbed her.

Best then put her back in his car and then left her naked on a North Philadelphia street, Darby said.

"This was a horrendous scenario. It doesn't get much worse than that," he said. "Imagine being held under this guy's control for hours with a gun."

While the Best and Gadson cases are noteworthy for their age, Darby said, they are just two of many solved through the resubmission of DNA evidence.

"We're here twice in a week," he said. "It just worked out that way."