After 40 months in court, St. Paul man convicted of raping woman in Metro Transit station

A St. Paul man has been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in a Metro Transit station in 2018.

After more than 40 months in court, 28-year-old Javed Mobin was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree criminal sexual conduct including penetration and the use of force or coercion, according to court filings.

On April 25, 2018, video surveillance showed a man come into the fifth-floor lobby of the 28th Avenue Station in Bloomington, according to the findings of fact filing. At 1:34 a.m. the next day, Bloomington police responded to a report of a sexual assault at the station. A witness told police that the victim had been sleeping with her service dog in that lobby and Mobin asked if he could sleep next to her, the filing details.

He then put his hand over her mouth and told the victim, "shut up or I’m going to kill you, keep your eyes closed," then slammed her head into the concrete, according to court documents. He then forced her to engage in sexual activities. Medical records showed bruising, swelling and a "large goose egg" on the back of the victim’s head.

During the assault, Mobin heard a noise and went to another part of the lobby to investigate. The victim stood up and tried to escape to the parking lot, naked from the waist down, the document states. Mobin realized she ran away, which the video showed, and was seen again coming downstairs, holding the victim in a headlock and taking her to a secluded area under a stairwell and continuing the sexual assault, according to the document.

A witness happened upon the assault 20 minutes later. The victim came out from under the stairwell and pointed at Mobin, who pulled his pants up, gathered his things, threw the victim’s blanket at the witness and fled the scene, according to the document. The victim told police she feared for her life, and that Mobin raped her.

Airport police identified Mobin as someone they often dealt with and had recently trespassed after Bloomington police were unable to find him during a search. Police found him at the Union Gospel Mission homeless shelter through probation records and took him into custody, according to court records.

During a hearing Friday, Mobin was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and remained at a hospital. He will be sentenced on Jan. 7.