WEST ST. PAUL
A taxi driver picked up a 25-year-old woman from a party in West St. Paul and sexually assaulted her on a gravel road before taking her home, authorities said.
The driver, Mustafa A. Hussein, was recently charged with a gross misdemeanor of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct after an investigation found DNA from his saliva on the woman, according to a Dakota County criminal complaint.
Police said Hussein, 33, of Minneapolis was a driver for Green and White Taxi in St. Paul. In the early morning of Sept. 5, Hussein first drove the woman to an apartment in St. Paul before she asked him to drive her home to Inver Grove Heights, the complaint said.
Along the way, the woman told police Hussein began rubbing her knee and inner thigh, the charge said. The woman said she told him to stop, but he kept at it. Hussein then turned onto a gravel road where "it became instantly dark."
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Hussein started to kiss the woman while telling her it was "OK," she said. Hussein then parked the cab while he sexually assaulted her for a few minutes, the complaint said. The woman struggled with Hussein before he returned to the driver's seat and took her home.
The woman later gave police identifying information about the cab.
Police interviewed Green and White staff, said West St. Paul Police Chief Manila "Bud" Shaver. The company said Hussein was sent to pick up the woman, but Hussein said she was a "no show," the complaint said.
The cab company did not return a message seeking comment Monday.
DNA later collected from the woman's cheek matched a sample obtained from Hussein.
Police interviewed Hussein, who denied having contact with the woman - even when police confronted him with the DNA match. Hussein later told police he had sexual contact with the woman but that it was her idea, the complaint said.
Hussein was charged Friday by summons and has not been given a court date. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail. He could not be reached for comment.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
