Falsely accused, St. Paul driver moves on

A St. Paul man's good Samaritan act ended up with an arrest for abduction; now, he's ready to start again.

By ANTHONY LONETREE, Star Tribune

Last update: October 1, 2008 - 10:56 PM

There are times when he feels the sting again, and wonders aloud what his life might be like if not for the false claims made against him, but Ali Abdilahi is ready to move on.

"I'm ready to drive," he said. "Ready to make money."

As rookies go, this is no ordinary truck driver.

Abdilahi, 32, of St. Paul, was accused in April of an attempted drive-by kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl. A married father of two girls, he was a pariah until the Ramsey County attorney's office agreed in late July that the victim was not credible.

Then came the front-page stories, and the outpouring of community support -- about $3,200 in donations in all, and a full scholarship to the truck-driving school he was attending.

Last week, Abdilahi crouched in the entry way of his St. Paul apartment, a stack of cards fanned out across his lap. They were expressions of sorrow and of gratitude from strangers stunned that a man who tried to do the right thing -- help a girl he found scraped and bleeding alongside a road -- could see his life upended with a false abduction claim.

Abdilahi said that the handwritten notes made him feel good, and that was why, he said, he was carrying them in his backpack. "Forever," he added.

Inside, too, was a letter from Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, making clear to anyone who might need to see it that Abdilahi should have "the same rights, privileges and respect that would be due him if the arrest and charges had never occurred."

On the road

A Somali immigrant, Abidilahi came to America dreaming of being an architect. But he'd only been through high school, he said, and would have to start over there, he was told, so he worked security, assembly, cleaning, "whatever you can imagine a person can do."

After his first daughter was born, he said, he didn't think living paycheck to paycheck would suffice, so he began casting about for careers, and settled on truck driving.

Earlier this year, he enrolled at American Truck Training North in Newport and had just begun attending classes when he was arrested.

After the charges were dropped, a New Hope man donated to him the use of his Chevy Blazer -- Abdilahi's car was sold at auction because he couldn't afford to get it out of the police impound lot -- and the school presented him a $6,495 scholarship for the four-week course.

As a student, a school official said last week, Abdilahi picked up the driving skills quickly and should have success as a driver. He passed the driving test in early September.

Then came Ramadan, which Abdilahi elected to observe at home with his family.

He said he is eager to get to work.

As he spoke, his brother-in-law, also a truck driver, called from Green Bay, Wis., saying he was on his way home after delivering a load he'd picked up in Fargo, N.D.

Abdilahi had begun his training before his brother-in-law did, he said. But because of his arrest, the brother-in-law was first to complete his schooling and to start driving.

"He's making money," Abdilahi said. "And I'm sitting here."

But he expects his life to turn around, he added. "It's a matter of time."

"It didn't happen the way I wanted," Abdilahi said of his life plan. "It happened the way God wanted. And I can't do nothing about it, you know what I mean?"

Anthony Lonetree • 651-298-1545

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