A St. Paul man is charged with raping a woman he met less than an hour before near a light-rail station in downtown St. Paul, authorities say.
Torrie Lee Bolden, 41, was charged Thursday with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.
It was about 3 a.m. Oct. 4 when a woman got off the Green Line at the Union Depot Station in Lowertown, legal documents say.
As she walked behind the light-rail station, she met a man she thought to be in his 30s and started walking with him toward a liquor store while the two smoked a cigarette, the woman later told police, the complaint said.
As they were walking, it occurred to the woman that the liquor store wouldn’t be open at that time of night and that they were walking in the wrong direction anyway.
When she told him, he started punching her in the face and repeatedly slammed her head against a brick wall, the complaint said.
Then he raped her, telling her he would get a gun if she didn’t comply, the woman told police, according to legal documents.
Surveillance cameras in the area reportedly show the two talking and sharing a cigarette in the area before going out of the camera’s vantage point, the complaint said. Shortly thereafter, the woman is seen with her face bloodied, running back toward the station for help.
A police officer recognized Bolden in the footage and asked Bolden’s community corrections officer to confirm his identity, according to court documents.
He was arrested Monday.
In his interview with officers, Bolden initially said he didn’t recognize the victim but later said he had seen her in the area and recalled helping her escape two other men who were assaulting her.
Bolden’s criminal history includes a 2016 gross-misdemeanor conviction for domestic assault.
He has no permanent address.
No attorney was listed for Bolden in court records.