#Minneapolis club bouncer charged with raping coworker

A bouncer at a Minneapolis club offered a coworker a ride home, and then raped her in a parking lot, authorities said.

Malcolm K. Olatunde, a 53-year-old bouncer at CRAVE Food & Drink, was arrested Tuesday in connection to the alleged September assault in downtown Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reports.

Prosecutors allege Olatunde, of Maplewood, also groped another coworker a week earlier as he drove her home, becoming “very touchy and forceful” with the colleague who had been “drinking heavily,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by the newspaper.

Police responded to the first alleged victim – who appeared to be intoxicated at the time — and found her next to a car with her face and clothes covered in dirt, the complaint said.

The woman later said at a hospital she left her job at CRAVE the night before and met up friends at another nearby bar where she saw Olatunde, who worked as a contracted employee there as well as CRAVE, according to the complaint.

The woman said she believes she left the bar with Olatunde, who often offered rides to female employees after closing time, the complaint states.

She said she trusted Olatunde, despite other female coworkers warning her they considered him to be “rapey,” according to the complaint.

Surveillance video showed Olatunde trying to get the woman into his car before they disappeared behind another vehicle. Then, 15 minutes later, Olatunde’s headlights were turned on and the pair were seen again before he tried to get her into his SUV, the complaint states.

Olatunde then allegedly drove off before several people walked by ahead of police arriving on the scene about 90 minutes after he tried to get the woman into his car, authorities allege.

The woman, who authorities said had been drinking, said she could not recall the alleged attack, but a sex assault exam found injuries consistent with rape and DNA collected from her matched a sample taken from Olatunde, the newspaper reports.

Olatunde, who was charged last week with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, has denied attacking the woman in a statement through his attorney, saying he agreed to give her a ride home from the bar but had difficulty getting her into his vehicle.

Olatunde said he contacted other coworkers to see if someone could pick the woman up because he needed to get home to his wife and two children, the Star Tribune reports.

“These are accusations and only accusations at this point,” attorney John Arechigo told the newspaper.