Man charged in 2014 kidnapping and rape attempt in Maplewood, suspected in others
Gregory Alan Trepanier (FILE/Ramsey County Jail)
UPDATE:
According to jail records, Trepanier was arrested Friday afternoon.
DNA from a kidnapping and attempted rape in Maplewood that’s been unsolved for a decade has finally led to a breakthrough and charges against a suspect.
Gregory Alan Trepanier, 55, was formally charged Friday with kidnapping and attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The charges stem from an incident in the early-morning hours of Nov. 23, 2014, but court documents note that Trepanier is also under investigation for two other unsolved kidnappings and rape threats from around the same time.
A woman called police at around 2:40 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2014, saying she’d been kidnapped in the parking lot of a bar near Woodlyn Avenue and Ariel Street North by a man with a gun who threatened to sexually assault her. Court documents state that the victim had gone to the bar with two friends and stayed until the bar closed. The victim drove separately and, as she backed out of her parking spot, said a man wearing a black ski mask opened her car’s passenger door, pointed a small gun at her and threatened to hurt her if she didn’t have sex with him.
Her description of the suspect matched a booking photo of Trepanier from two weeks earlier when he was booked on an unrelated matter.
The charging documents state that the man directed her to a parking lot of a senior living facility off Hazelwood Street near County Road C. Her friends, who were ahead of the victim, noticed she turned off their route and called her twice and she said she had to take a man home.
According to the criminal complaint, the man told the victim to undress when they parked. After she refused, the man suddenly said, “Oh (expletive),” apologized and told her, “I didn’t pick you for any reason at all.” He then got out of the car and walked away, and the victim called her friends and police.
Police were able to collect DNA from stains left in the car by the suspect. While his DNA wasn’t identifiable at the time, court documents state that scientists from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension got a match to Trepanier last month during a periodic test of the sample.
Court documents also note that he has a previous stalking and indecent exposure conviction from 2018.
As of Friday, Trepanier wasn’t yet in custody and is considered a “high risk to public safety.”