St. Paul Man Charged With Kidnapping, Sexually Assaulting Teen For Days
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Ramsey County Attorney's Office has charged a St. Paul man with kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct after he allegedly locked up a young man in his basement and sexually assaulted him for days.
Court documents say 55-year-old Wilbert Glover came up behind a 19-year-old man on a north Minneapolis street Friday and strangled him until he passed out.
Glover then took him to his home in St. Paul, chained him to a metal bar attached to a concrete wall in his basement and repeatedly raped him for four days.
The accused left his home Tuesday, and the victim was able to free himself, shut off power to the entire home and use a fire extinguisher to break out of a bathroom window.
The victim then crawled and rolled through yards, knocking on neighbors doors until someone answered and helped him.
Officers canvased the neighborhood and found a home on the 1200 block of Marion Street that had a damaged window that looked like someone had broken through from the inside.
They also noticed that all the basement windows were boarded up, and a reading of home's electrical meter showed that the power had been shut off for hours. They discovered the suspect's name on a mailbox, and spotted several home security-style cameras around the yard.
After running a background check on the suspect, officers spotted a car driving down the block that fit the description of one Glover owned. They stopped the driver and questioned him. He claimed that he didn't live on the block and was just visiting a friend who lived on the corner. The man was then unable to tell officers the name of that friend.
A neighbor verified that the driver was in fact Glover, and they took him into custody. Glover asked for a lawyer and declined to be interviewed by investigators.
The complaint also states that surveillance video showed Glover repeatedly striking his head against the door frame of his holding cell. Officers later found Glover on the floor of his cell in the fetal position. He had a head wound and was near a pool of his own blood.
"This is a violent and disturbing case involving kidnapping and rape of a young man," Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said. "We are thankful that the victim's ordeal is over and that the defendant is now in custody. We will seek justice for the victim and community."
Glover had been convicted in 1987 for attempted murder and kidnapping in Illinois.
He will make his first court appearance Monday. He could face up to 70 years in prison if convicted of both charges.
