A St. Paul woman woke up to the sound of someone “rattling” her Lowertown apartment’s lock around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. She was about to call the police when she heard a can open in her kitchen.
She walked out of her bedroom to see a stranger sitting on her couch, drinking a beer and looking through her roommate’s purse. He had been trying to break the lock on her door, and that of a female neighbor, for hours.
And it wasn’t the first time, according to charges filed in Ramsey County District Court.
George Edward Lowe, 45, of St. Paul was charged Wednesday with kidnapping, first-degree aggravated robbery and two counts of first-degree burglary.
When the victim, identified in charging documents as KCL, tried to escape, Lowe grabbed her by the neck, dragged her back inside, took her phone and said he wanted her “money and gems.” When she tried to escape again, he forced her to sit on the couch with him as he finished the beer, according to the criminal complaint.
After that, Lowe told police he “probably would have made love” with the woman, but law enforcement entered the apartment using the caretaker’s key while they were still sitting on the couch, the charges said.
When police entered, KCL “was crying … appeared to be hyperventilating” and said she didn’t know Lowe, the complaint said.
Lowe told police he had done similar things twice before in the same Galtier Towers apartment building. The first instance occurred on the top floor, where he “raped” a woman whom he described as “nice.” The second instance occurred on the same floor as the most recent victim. “I own that floor, it’s mine,” Lowe told police, according to the complaint.
Lowe claimed that he would not have forced KCL to have sex with him but admitted to using force when dragging her back into the apartment, saying “she knew that was a NO NO!” Lowe initially claimed that the victim was his girlfriend and let him in willingly, charges said.
The female neighbor who called police first noticed Lowe tampering with her lock around 2 a.m. She called after she woke up around 6:30 a.m., and he was still attempting to get into her apartment. She heard KCL “screaming for help” in the hall shortly afterward, charges said.
Security footage shows the man “prying the front security door for about 15 minutes” before he was able to get inside, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, St. Paul police have had several encounters with Lowe this month, including one in which he profanely threatened a woman and one in which he spit in a woman’s face. Both victims were complete strangers. He also tackled a woman to the pavement and pinned her to the ground.
Lowe told police he has legally changed his name to “Carlos Vagus Gotcha” in an attempt to leave behind his criminal past. He has prior convictions for robbery, armed robbery, theft, auto theft, criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree and forgery, the charges said.
Lowe’s first appearance is scheduled for Thursday, and his bail is set at $250,000.