MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Authorities said a man who impersonated a police officer and allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in Anoka County has been arrested.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office said the incident took place at about 1 p.m. on Nov. 23 on the 6400 block of 5th Street NE in Fridley. A suspect abducted a woman off the street in that area claiming to be a police officer, held her for several hours and sexually assaulted the victim.
Sheriff Commander Paul Sommer said Thursday the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Gideon Charles Arrington of Brooklyn Park, was taken into custody around 6:05 p.m. Tuesday on the 8000 block of Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Center. He was located by the Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force.
He appeared in Anoka County Court for his first appearance where he was charged with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of kidnapping.
According to the charges, he forced the victim into his vehicle in a Fridley parking lot after claiming to be a police detective.
“He told her that he was detective and asked her generalized questions about the area,” said Commander Sommer.
He then threatened, handcuffed and blindfolded the victim before driving her to a location where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her. After the assaults, he used a bleach type of solution on her.
“Clearly, the suspect had some knowledge of the procedures that were going to take place with this victim. He seemed to take some painstaking, preventative measures. Fortunately, they were not successful measures,” Commander Sommer said.
According to the criminal complaint, Arrington dropped her off in Brooklyn Park where she flagged down a cab, who called police. Investigators were able to use DNA evidence on the victim’s body and compare it to the national database of convicted felons.
A match with Arrington came back on Dec. 10. That evidence, along with a witness report, led to his arrest.
Arrington is in Anoka County Jail on $1 million bail and will appear in court next in early January.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis Police do not think that a sexual assault case that happened on Nov. 24 is linked to Arrington.
That incident occurred near the University of Minnesota campus near the intersection of 15th Avenue SE and 8th Street SE where a man sexually assaulted a female student.
Minneapolis Police said Thursday the evidence in the investigation doesn’t show any indications that it is connected to the Fridley sexual assault. Police said it’s an ongoing investigation and evidence from the incident is being tested at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
“There is still someone out there, at this point,” said Commander Bruce Folkens, of the Minneapolis Police Department.
The suspect in that incident is described as a black man between 23 and 27 years old with a medium build. He had short hair or a shaved head and a neatly trimmed chin-strap style beard. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket with a badge on it, dark pants and a security or police-style belt, police said.
