Metro Mobility Driver Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Passenger
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis Metro Mobility driver is behind bars, accused of sexually assaulting a vulnerable adult.
Forty-four-year-old Segundo Domingo Aucapina is accused of inappropriately touching one of his female passengers.
The driver works for Transit Team, a company that is a contractor with Metro Mobility, which is a transportation service for people with disabilities.
Investigators say Aucapina used his position as a bus driver to seclude one of his passengers so he could take advantage of her.
The criminal complaint says an automated vehicle locator detected that Aucapina's Metro Mobility bus went off course twice on the morning of Nov. 3.
"He picks up a woman in a group home and he buys her a little something at a convenience store," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
He says Aucapina drove to a nearby parking lot and parked in a secluded area.
The video from the bus shows him sitting down across the aisle from the victim. The complaint says Aucapina used an umbrella to block the camera and the view from inside the bus. Although investigators could not tell what was going on behind the umbrella, the sound of kissing was caught on tape.
The complaint says after 10 minutes the umbrella was removed and the victim is seen attempting to fix her disheveled shirt.
"After the sexual assault, the bus went on to pick up other passengers and another young woman, who knew the victim, got on and asked her how she was and she gave a thumbs down," Freeman said.
He says that is when police were called. The victim was interviewed and according to the complaint, she told investigators where Aucapina allegedly touched her and how he made her touch him.
Transit Team issued a statement saying Aucapina, who worked for the company for seven months, is no longer employed there.
"Serious charges, serious time," Freeman said. "We're going to do everything we can to send a message that this kind of conduct is repulsive and it's going to be treated as seriously as we can handle it."
Transit Team says it is committed to screening all employees prior to employment – and that includes criminal background checks.
The company says a clean background check is required before any driver is hired.
Freeman says the victim claims this driver has sexually assaulted her in the past.
Aucapina could face 15 years in prison if convicted.