Police Tie Lakeville Man to 2005 Minneapolis Rape

Investigators have used DNA evidence to charge a man with raping a woman in Minneapolis almost seven years ago.

Anthony Strickland, 45, is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Minneapolis police were called to the Hennepin County Medical Center on Oct. 1, 2005, on a report of a sexual assault.

They met with the victim, who appeared disoriented but told them that she had met a man who introduced himself as Tony earlier in the evening, and they had a drink together at a downtown Minneapolis bar.

The man told her he had to be at work at 11 p.m., so the two left the bar and took a light-rail train to a fast-food restaurant near downtown Minneapolis, the woman said.

Both ordered food. The man asked the victim to go inside to get a lid and a straw for his drink; when she returned, he kept encouraging her to finish her drink, according to the complaint.

The woman said she finished her drink, and the next thing she remembered, she awakened sitting in a clump of bushes with her shirt and bra open and her pants pulled down. She told police that she wasn’t certain that she had been raped, but she believed that she had been drugged.

Hospital personnel performed swabs, and detected semen, according to the complaint.

On April 24, 2006, the victim told police that she had seen the suspect, and accused him of raping her. She said he seemed “unconcerned” about her allegations.

Police sought a DNA test on the semen. Last August, the DNA profile matched that of Strickland, a registered sex offender, according to the complaint. Strickland came to police headquarters on June 5; he was arrested and agreed to a recorded interview.

Strickland denied knowing the victim or ever having sex with her, according to the complaint.

Strickland is free on a $100,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled July 10 in Hennepin County District Court.