Sycamore man wanted on rape charges found after 17 years

SYCAMORE – Brett M. Gamble has been wanted by North Carolina authorities for 17 years on several violent crime charges.

On Friday, DeKalb County sheriff’s police arrested Gamble, 50, in Sycamore – where he has lived in the 300 block of East North Avenue and hidden under the guise of his father’s name, Frank Gamble – for the past decade, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

All the while, Gamble had warrants for his arrest on charges including first-degree sexual assault, forcible rape, second-degree kidnapping, and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

DeKalb County Chief Deputy Andy Sullivan said deputies did an “excellent” job on the case.

“The detectives showed persistence and determination in locating the suspect, and this is a true matter of inter-agency cooperation that went across state lines to ensure bringing this fugitive to justice so he can answer for the crimes he’s been accused of,” Sullivan said.

Gamble will have a bond hearing in DeKalb County court Saturday, after which Sullivan said he expects Gamble will be extradited to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The beginning of the end of Gamble’s time as a fugitive came Feb. 28, when sheriff’s police got a tip that Gamble was dealing cocaine in Sycamore, according to the news release.

That triggered a local investigation, police said. When sheriff’s deputies made contact with Gamble, he told them his name was Frank Gamble, his father’s name, according to the release.

At the time they encountered Gamble, they learned he had a 2007 warrant for obstruction of justice out of West Dundee, the release said. Gamble posted $150 bail and was released March 21, DeKalb County court records show.

After looking further into Gamble’s past, however, deputies learned from officers in Winston-Salem the extent of the charges Gamble was wanted for, and that he’d posted $50,000 bail in 2001 and then fled the state.

The release says that as of Friday, the warrant became enforceable in DeKalb County, and that Gamble was arrested about 3:15 p.m. Friday near Ninth and Main streets in St. Charles, where he was working.