Jury convicts man for Dinkytown parking ramp rape

A Hennepin County jury on Tuesday convicted a man of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for the rape of a woman last year in September in a Dinkytown parking ramp.

Emmett Chuckie Dixon, 31, of Edina was arrested on warrant and charged in April. He is a registered predatory offender, who at the time of the Sept. 18, 2022, attack was on probation for a 2019 third-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction.

At sentencing Dec. 4, he could face up to 30 years in prison as prosecutors are seeking an aggravated sentence.

The trial in Judge Shereen Askalani's courtroom began Oct. 30 and concluded Tuesday, when jurors found Dixon guilty.

According to the charges:

The victim was "crying and in great fear" when Minneapolis police met her near the Kollege Klub bar in the early morning hours. A passerby had stopped to help and called 911.

She told police that she went to a party at a University of Minnesota fraternity with friends before walking to Dinkytown for pizza and hanging out at a friend's nearby apartment. She drank and got tired, so a friend called her an Uber.

When the ride arrived, she didn't feel comfortable getting in alone, so she returned to the apartment, using the call box and waiting to be let back in. A black sedan pulled up and a man she did not know yelled at her to get in his car. She refused.

The man, identified as Dixon, parked his car. He walked up to her and told her again to get in his car. When she said no, he pulled her by the arm and forced her to go to the parking ramp.

She said he raped her as she begged him to stop, forcing her down onto the concrete before he ran away and drove off. She stumbled to the sidewalk and collapsed.

Video surveillance corroborated the woman's account. Dixon — who was driving his wife's black BMW sedan — was shown circling the block and returning to the woman. DNA testing also matched Dixon.

Messages were left with Dixon's public defender Wednesday morning.