Charges: Mantu Craven Shot Woman Who Refused To Have Sex For $40
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 41-year-old Brooklyn Center man is charged with attempted murder after police say he shot a woman after she refused to have sex with him for money.
Investigators say Mantu Craven offered a ride to a woman waiting at a Minneapolis bus stop in the early morning of Sept. 12. She agreed and got in the car.
The woman told police they drove to an ATM, he withdrew money, and then said they were going to drive to his friend's house in Coon Rapids.
Instead, the woman said Craven drove to a park near Cenaiko Lake and the Coon Rapids Dam. She says he asked her to have sex with him for $40. She says he got out of the car and walked to her side, and she then locked her door, begging him to take her home.
She says Craven then pulled her out of the car at gunpoint, shoved her to the ground, then fired several shots at her, two of which struck her in the abdomen. He then fled when she pulled out her phone and pretended to call for help.
The victim, who was naked from the waist down, then ran through a wooded area, eventually making her way onto Highway 610 near East River Road in Coon Rapids, where she was soon spotted by Minnesota State Patrol troopers.
She was rushed to an area hospital for surgery, although doctors were unable to remove one of the bullets in her abdomen. The other bullet had entered her abdomen, then traveled through her right leg.
Investigators were able find a shell casing near Cenaiko Lake. They also reviewed surveillance video from the ATM machine Craven used to withdraw cash with his brother's card, and video of Craven's blue Dodge Dart in a supermarket parking lot near the ATM.
Records also showed Craven ordered an Uber a few hours after the shooting, then reported his car missing the next day. The car was found a few blocks away from where he caught the Uber, which was paid for with the same card used at the ATM.
Craven was arrested at his Brooklyn Center home on Oct. 1. He faces one count of second-degree attempted murder and one count of first-degree assault. He is being held on a $1 million bond, and could face up to 40 years in prison.