Minneapolis taxi driver charged in sexual assault of passenger

Last update: April 3, 2008 - 11:17 PM

A Minneapolis taxi driver was charged this week with felony sexual assault after allegedly forcing himself on a passenger and asking for sex in exchange for a ride home.

Police were called at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday to East Hennepin Avenue and 14th Avenue SE., where they found a crying woman who appeared frightened and shaken, according to a complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court. The woman told police she had been waiting at the bus shelter at Broadway and Lyndale Avenues when Tsige Abebaw Dereje, 42, pulled up in a taxi. The victim told Dereje she needed a ride to St. Paul.

According to the complaint, when she got into the cab, Dereje drove off and allegedly offered to give her a free ride and pay her $150 if she would spend the night with him. When the woman told Dereje she wanted out of the cab, he locked all the doors. She then tried to call 911 on her cell phone, but the call did not go through. Dereje then reached into the backseat and touched the woman on the thigh and between her legs, the complaint said. He began to kiss her hand and asked her to kiss him. When she refused, Dereje became angry and banged his hands on the cab steering wheel, the complaint said.

Dereje eventually stopped the cab and left the woman inside, telling her that he was going to get more money and a minivan and that he would return.

The woman then unlocked the doors and called police.

Dereje was arrested after he returned to the scene in a minivan. He was charged with felony fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor. He was booked into the Hennepin County jail on $50,000 bond and will make a court appearance later this month.

ABBY SIMONS

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