The woman said that she'd had about five beers and six shots of liquor but that she remembers texting her boyfriend and a co-worker for a ride home from the bar late on Sept. 4, 2009.
The next thing she knew, she testified on Wednesday, she woke up in a stranger's car. They ended up at the man's home in Shoreview, where she allegedly was raped.
The woman, 25, was the first of five alleged victims expected to testify in the trial of Maksud Mahbub in Ramsey County District Court. Mahbub, 36, is charged in five separate criminal complaints with six counts of third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The charges allege that the women were too mentally impaired or physically disabled by alcohol to consent to sex or sexual touching. The criminal complaints say that Mahbub bragged to a neighbor that he would pick up "drunk girls" at bars in downtown Minneapolis and have sex with them.
The woman who testified on Wednesday was the first to contact police. Investigators looking through taxi records found four more women who had been picked up from Mahbub's house. Interviews with those women revealed similar stories.
Under questioning from prosecutor Yasmin Mullings, the first woman said her boyfriend dropped her and a female friend in downtown Minneapolis. The woman said she texted a male friend about 11:30 p.m. for a ride to her St. Paul apartment. The next thing she knew, she said, she was in Mahbub's car.
She said that when they got to his townhouse, she began raising a ruckus in hopes a neighbor would hear. Mahbub agreed to take her home, but they ended up at a park. The woman said she ran from the car but got back in when she couldn't find anyone to help her.
They returned to his home where she remembered lying down clothed. When she awoke, she said, she was naked. Mahbub held her down and raped her, she said.
