Ex-Con Charged With Fridley Kidnapping

Prosecutors on Thursday charged a Brooklyn Park man with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman in Fridley on Nov. 23, according to the County Attorney’s Office.

Gideon Charles Arrington II, 35, was charged in Anoka County District Court with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.

Prosecutors accuse Arrington of claiming to be a detective and forcing a woman into his vehicle in a Fridley parking lot, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators say he then threatened, handcuffed and blindfolded her—then drove her elsewhere and repeatedly sexually assaulted her. The woman said he used a bleach-type solution on her after the assaults.

“The charges in the complaint detail a horrific scenario for our victim, with the added fact that she was led to believe he was a law enforcement officer,” a news release quoted Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo.

Court records show that Arrington was convicted of first-degree aggravated robbery in 2009.

Anoka County District Court Judge Nancy Logering set Arrington’s bail at $1 million and issued an order for no contact with the victim. His next court cour appearance has been scheduled for Jan. 6.

“Our office will aggressively pursue this case, as we do with all our cases, to seek justice for the victim and hold the alleged perpetrator accountable,” the release quoted Palumbo.

The Nov. 23 assault was similar to an incident reported to the University of Minnesota Police the following day. In that case, a man with a similar description and wearing a badge approached a woman near the university.

But the Star Tribune reports that Minneapolis police don’t have yet any evidence connecting Arrington to that incident or another late-November incident that also happened near the university—but that they’re waiting on results from evidence that’s being tested.