Police say off-duty cop interrupted man molesting 13-year-old girl on St. Paul overpass

An off-duty police officer interrupted the daylight molestation of a 13-year-old girl as she was being accosted by a stranger on a St. Paul overpass, according to charges.

The reported attack on Sept. 30 was the first of two assaults allegedly carried out days apart by 27-year-old Eh Doe Soe of St. Paul, who was charged Thursday with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Soe has since been arrested and remains jailed in lieu of $70,000 bail ahead of a Nov. 12 court appearance. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to Soe’s attorney for a response to the charges.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police were dispatched about 6:25 p.m. on Sept. 30 to the intersection of Earl Street and York Avenue, where a girl told officers that she was walking north on the overpass above Phalen Boulevard, where a man on a bicycle approached her.

She said the man, later identified as Soe, got off the bike and tried to kiss and hug her. As she resisted, he grabbed her buttocks.

An off-duty officer driving by saw Soe groping and pushing the girl against the overpass wall. The girl broke free and waved her arms for help. Soe caught up to the girl and pulled her to him.

After checking on the girl, the officer drove in pursuit of Soe and saw the bicycle had been abandoned and Soe had fled into the woods behind an apartment complex.

On Oct. 2, police were alerted to a similar incident earlier that day and about a mile to the northeast, near Phalen Boulevard and Johnson Parkway. A police report said a female said she was walking near the intersection shortly after 5:30 p.m. when a man she didn’t know groped her. She said she pushed him away and ran off.

Police determined the man in each incident was wearing a gray jacket with long dark sleeves. Soe was found by police on Oct. 3 and arrested.