A woman was walking to a light rail station in downtown St. Paul last fall when she says a stranger stole her cellphone as a means to lure her into a dark parking ramp.
Concerned about losing photos of her daughter on it, she followed him up to the garage’s 10th floor.
That’s when the man pushed her into a corner and raped her.
That is the account outlined in a criminal complaint charging Javonte Andre Sims, 22, with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charge was filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court.
The woman told police she had just left a women’s shelter around 3:45 a.m. Oct. 25 and was heading to a light rail platform near the corner of Fifth and Minnesota streets in downtown St. Paul when a man approached her.
He started asking her random questions. Nervous, she says she placed her cell phone in her front pocket and tried to walk around him because he was “acting creepy,” the complaint said.
That’s when he reached into her pocket, grabbed her phone, and took off, the woman told police.
Initially she tried to chase him to retrieve it because she didn’t want to lose the pictures of her daughter, but she eventually lost sight of him.
When she returned to the light rail platform, she discovered him sitting on a bench holding her cell phone, according to the complaint.
In exchange for returning her phone, the man reportedly told her she had to follow him.
He led her up to the 10th floor of a nearby parking ramp, the woman told police. After they exited the elevator, he told her she would need to have sex with him if she wanted her phone back, the complaint said.
Then he pushed her into a corner and raped her, according to the complaint.
When it was over, he reportedly said, “I do this all the time; this is how I get laid,” the woman told officers, according to the complaint.
Then he gave the woman her phone back and told her to leave. She went to a friend’s house to take a shower and then to a nearby hospital to get a sexual assault examination.
Video footage obtained by Metro Transit police and reviewed by St. Paul officers showed Sims taking the woman’s cell phone and entering the parking ramp with her, the complaint said.
There is no footage available from the area the alleged crime took place.
When interviewed by officers, Sims initially denied both the theft and the sexual assault. When officers told him they had video of him stealing the woman’s phone, Sims admitted to the theft but continued to deny the rape, the complaint said.
When further pressed, he reportedly said he has a bad memory and couldn’t remember if any sexual activity had taken place between them.
Sims is scheduled to make his first appearance on the charge Friday afternoon.
He has no known address and none of his relatives could be immediately reached for comment.
Sims has no convictions on his criminal record in Minnesota but he has been charged in four other cases still pending. They include one charge of first-degree aggravated robbery and two charges of simple robbery.