Two men held a 19-year-old college student captive in a Winona, Minn., warehouse in the middle of the night, forced him to strip naked and threatened to sexually assault him and harm him with a meat saw, according to charges.
Charges: College student in Winona forced to strip, threatened with meat saw
Two Winona men charged with false imprisonment, assault, terroristic threats.
September 17, 2015 at 2:29AM
John A. Demaske, 45, and Abdirhahman H. Samatar, 34, both of Winona, were charged Monday in Winona County District Court with false imprisonment, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and terroristic threats.
Demaske posted bond and was released from jail. Samatar remains in custody.
While the criminal complaint did not identify what business operates in the building at 65 Laird Street, Demaske owns Winona Midstream Supply and has a food supply warehouse at the address where the incident occurred. He allegedly unlocked the building that night before bringing the student inside.
Demaske told the Star Tribune on Wednesday that the student "was in my building and not picked off [the] road" as the young man explained to police.
According to the charges: The student told a police officer that he had been drinking Saturday night, went to a house party and got lost walking back alone to his dorm, when two men he didn't know approached him yelling and led him by the shoulders to the warehouse.
The student said Samatar slapped him once or twice, then forced him to stand on a chair and take off all his clothes. They quizzed the victim about some items they believed he stole from them.
They told the student he would be sexually assaulted and left him "unsure if he would get out … alive," the complaint read.
The student said he was in the warehouse for about 30 minutes before he fled into the street naked yelling for help.
A police sergeant arrived at the warehouse and caught up with Demaske and Samatar. The two were tested for intoxication. Preliminary breath tests measured Demaske's blood alcohol content at 0.17 percent and Samatar's at 0.06 percent.
Demaske told the sergeant he unlocked the building's door and spotted the student inside. Demaske said $400 was stolen from the warehouse two days earlier and he suspected Samatar stole the money.
It was Samatar, Demaske said, who threatened the student with a saw.
At the jail, Samatar said it was Demaske who turned on the meat saw and threatened the victim that he was going to be "cut," the complaint read.
Authorities have not disclosed the student's identity or where he attends college.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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