Charges: Minneapolis man offered to help woman, then sexually assaulted her

A Minneapolis man is accused of sexually assaulting a woman as she was trying to get into her Uptown apartment in early October.

Charges recently filed in Hennepin County District Court say the assault was captured on video surveillance in the apartment lobby. Casey Valdez Moses remains in custody and faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

According to the criminal complaint:

The woman had multiple injuries to her face when police arrived at the 1200 block of W. 31st Street on Oct. 7. She told officers that she had been sexually assaulted in the lobby by a man later identified as Moses. He approached her outside when her hands were full, and she accepted his offer to help get in the building. She handed him the key fob, and he unlocked the door.

Once inside the lobby, Moses allegedly asked her for oral sex twice and she said no. Moses punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground, and he got on top of her. At that point, she said Moses threatened to rape her.

"He continually tried to pull her pants down as victim screamed as loud as she could for help," charges say.

Moses continued punching her and got the victim's pants and underwear partially down as he pulled his pants down and positioned himself to rape her. But the victim continued to struggle with him. Moses stood up, pulled up his pants and left while the victim remained on the lobby floor.

She received medical care for a broken nose and other injuries.

When detectives interviewed Moses Oct. 29, he identified himself in a still photo taken from the apartment's security camera.

Moses had been arrested that morning in a separate case after the window of a Metro Transit squad car was smashed near the US Bank light-rail station.

In that case, he's charged with fleeing police and first-degree damage to a public safety motor vehicle. Charges say that a witness reported the incident and officers found Moses, who ran away, hiding in a bush.

Light rail surveillance video showed Moses putting on a Halloween mask, peering into the empty squad car and returning with a large weight that he threw at the window. Shattered glass covered the inside of the squad car.

Minneapolis police had asked for the public's help identifying a suspect in a Facebook post from Oct. 27.

Messages to Moses' public defender were not returned Friday. Moses is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 29.