Anoka man, 30, cleared of rape charges

Article by: Pat Pheifer , Star Tribune
Updated: October 25, 2007 - 8:22 PM

The woman who claimed to be his victim was a fellow psychiatric patient and was unclear about what happened.

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Charges have been dismissed against an Anoka man accused of raping another patient last December in the psychiatric ward at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

Craig Bjorklund, 30, was charged with third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after a 36-year-old woman told police "she thought she might have been raped on Dec. 30 by another patient," the complaint said.

The woman said she had taken the sleeping drug Ambien about 8 that night and wasn't sure whether the rape "was real or a dream," the document said.

In March, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported DNA from sperm found on the woman's underwear matched Bjorklund.

People who have taken Ambien have reported strange behavior, such as driving and eating while asleep.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in March that it had ordered strong new warnings placed on the labels of Ambien.

"[Ambien] was an issue in the case," said Phil Carruthers, who heads the Ramsey County Attorney's office prosecution unit. "But it wasn't the major or even a primary reason for the dismissal."

The victim's memory was hazy, he said Thursday. "Was it Ambien or something else? Who knows for sure?"

Charges were filed because "we did believe that something improper happened. It just was an issue of being able to prove it," Carruthers said.

Pat Pheifer • 651-298-1551