After nearly 40 years, an Atlanta cold case rape suspect is in custody — again.
This time, Randy Baugh was arrested while riding a MARTA bus, Atlanta police said Tuesday. He is accused of two rapes that took place in March 1986 and September 1988 after his DNA was found to match DNA collected at the time of the crime, authorities said.
Baugh had been on the run since November 2023 when he was originally apprehended but escaped while at Grady Memorial Hospital, officials said. Details of the escape were not released.
After the getaway, Baugh remained at the top of the police department’s most wanted list until his latest arrest.
Around 10:30 a.m. Aug. 15, Atlanta and MARTA police “received an alert” that a fugitive was riding a bus in the area of Cascade Road and Benjamin E. Mays Drive, police said. Officials did not disclose how they were alerted to Baugh’s presence on the bus, but he was “positively identified via surveillance,” according to authorities.
Police then stopped the bus and took him into custody.
Body camera footage of the arrest shows officers sprinting onto the bus, placing Baugh in handcuffs and escorting him off.
Baugh initially misidentifies himself with a different last name before confirming that his surname is Baugh when asked a second time.
He is then placed into the back of a patrol car after an initial pat down. He remains in custody at Grady, police said Tuesday.
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