Another Poor Troubled Boy

Charges: Masked rapist was sent to Minnesota after trouble back in D.C.
By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune
Last update: June 10, 2008 - 11:20 AM

Brian Donnell Bridges

A troubled young man who escaped an East Coast residential facility before being sent to an Iron Range juvenile detention home is accused of nearly choking the life out of a woman and repeatedly raping her in a middle-of-the-night attack that left her unconscious for a time.
Brian Donnell Bridges, 20, was charged Monday with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and one count each of burglary and third-degree assault.

According to the criminal complaint:

Bridges, a masked stranger to his victim, entered the woman's Hibbing home about 3:15 a.m. on June 3 -- either through an unlocked door or a screen that was cut -- and choked her, threatened to kill her and then raped her.

Then she passed out.

She soon came to on the floor next to her bed, struggling to catch her breath. As she started to pull herself to her feet, Bridges reappeared, put her on the bed, raped her again, threw her to the floor and demanded money. She told him about some coins in a can and a jar. As he asked where her purse was, he started choking her again and left.

The woman's collarbone was broken in the attack, during which she fought back, at times trying to kick him in the groin and reaching to gouge his eyes.

Bridges, a former Hibbing Community College student in the summer of 2007, was arrested two days later and is in the St. Louis County jail on $1 million bail. His next court appearance is Friday.

During questioning by police, Bridges denied the attack -- he offered two versions of where he was that night -- and acknowledged having to live in numerous facilities on the East Coast, having escaped from one in Pennsylvania. His transfer to the Mesabi Academy juvenile detention center in Buhl followed for what the charges described as "an unknown juvenile offense [that] occurred in Washington, D.C."

Star Tribune staff writer Pamela Huey contributed to this report.

Note by Hannabelle: Mesabi is comparable to the Mille Lacs Academy. We have been repeatedly assured that our citizens are safe - that these convicted sex offenders pose no threat or danger. But then, we have been repeatedly lied to also - especially about safety/criminal records. hmmm. You might think I'm weird, but I don't want someone like Brian as my new neighbor. 94 Brians...