Suspect Charged In Brutal San Leandro Kidnapping, Sexual Assault
SAN LEANDRO (CBS SF) -- A 27-year-old transient man from San Francisco was charged Friday with six felony counts for allegedly raping an intoxicated woman in San Leandro whom he apparently had met after she boarded a BART train in San Francisco last month.
Meini Foster was scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward this afternoon on two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count each of kidnapping, sodomy by use of force, forcible rape and rape by use of drugs.
The victim, who's in her 20s, works in San Francisco and after work on the night of Dec. 15 she drank alcohol with work colleagues for more than six hours before she entered the Powell Street BART station in San Francisco at about 11:19 p.m., according to a probable cause statement by San Leandro police Officer Deborah Trujillo.
BART surveillance camera footage shows that the woman was "swaying back and forth and has trouble maintaining her balance" an "is so intoxicated she falls forward onto her hands and knees," Trujillo said.
The woman boarded a Dublin/Pleasanton train at 11:30 p.m. and was seen leaving the Bay Fair BART station in San Leandro with Foster at about 1:04 a.m. the next day, police report says.
Trujillo said Foster pulled her close to him when she tried to walk away from him and then led her down the stairs toward the station's exit.
Foster then continued to lead the woman as she continued to stumble and took her into the BART station's parking lot, according to Trujillo.
Foster next forced the woman onto nearby railroad tracks between Hesperian Boulevard and Halcyon Drive and forced her to orally copulate him by using physical force and verbal threats, Trujillo said.
The woman yelled for help and tried to free herself from Foster but he raped and sodomized her, according to Trujillo.
The woman continued to try to run and fight and yell for help but Foster again forced her to orally copulate him, Trujillo said.
Foster finally left the woman in the mud at the railroad tracks but she's not from San Leandro, had a hard time finding her way and when she knocked on a family's door at 3 a.m. to ask for help the residents mistook her for a burglar, ordered her to leave and called 911, according to Trujillo.
However, police finally found the woman and took her to a hospital, where they conducted a sexual assault examination on her, Trujillo said
Investigators were able to get DNA evidence from the victim which linked Foster to the crime.
"There were no witnesses to the sexual assault, which is why this DNA match is very critical in a crime such as this," said San Leandro Police Lt. Robert McManus. "What we do have is that video surveillance and even if there is witness testimony as to what happened at the BART station, that video once again will tell the story."
He was later arrested by BART police on December 27 near San Francisco's Civic Center.
If convicted on the kidnapping and sexual assault charges, Foster could be sentenced to life in prison.
TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
