Man convicted of rape, kidnapping and robbery in South Minneapolis

A Hennepin County jury on Tuesday found a 38-year-old Minneapolis man guilty of rape, kidnapping and aggravated robbery in connection with a January carjacking at a south Minneapolis gas station.

Carl Stanley Williams was found guilty after a three-day trial on all charges, including two first-degree criminal sexual conduct counts and one count of kidnapping and aggravated robbery. The jury deliberated for about an hour and a half.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty thanked the jury for holding Williams responsible for the ‘horrific and violent crime’ and the officers responding to the call who quickly tracked him down after the victim called 911.

“This crime strikes at the heart of community fears about safety. The victim was simply putting gasoline in her car when Mr. Williams attacked her,” Moriarty said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the charges, the victim called police to report that she was hijacked and abducted from the BP gas station at 2000 S. 3rd Ave. She had just finished putting gas in her car when she was approached by Williams. He was armed and wearing a ski mask when he ordered her to sit in the passenger seat of his car and drove off while continuing to hold her at gunpoint.

Williams demanded her purse, and after 10 minutes of driving, he pulled over and forced her to perform oral sex on him while still holding her at gunpoint. The victim, “determined she was going to try to escape while this was happening,” the charges said, pulled a stun gun from her pocket. It didn’t work, but she managed to escape. She ran into the block and called for help.

A Good Samaritan down the street took her to his house and called the police. Williams abandoned her car, which was in a nearby alley, and drove off. He returned to the same gas station, where police responded to additional reports of carjacking attempts by a man matching Williams’ description.

Officers found Williams hiding near gas pumps and arrested him. He had the victim’s debit card in his pocket, according to the charges.

His attorney, Hennepin County Assistant Public Defender Bryan Leary, said Williams is considering a prison sentence of about 30 years and his client is innocent.

“The hurt and trauma suffered by the young woman is not ameliorated by the fact that the jury convicted the wrong man,” Leary said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Williams will be sentenced on April 27.