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THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
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Cab driver put away for raping drunk passenger
A young couple had just finished celebrating a friend's birthday at Newport on the Levee and decided to take a taxi home. Both were intoxicated and passed out in the back of driver Mohamud Abukar's taxi. What followed is a bizarre trip that lasted four and a half hours and ended when the female woke up with Abukar on top of her in the vehicle. From Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders:
When the woman began to recognize her surroundings, she demanded to be let out of the cab. She woke her boyfriend and the couple made their way to Circle K gas station on Dixie Hwy. in Erlanger. By now, it was 7am.
The couple phoned police and the woman was taken to St. Elizabeth hospital for a rape examination. During the exam, semen was located on the woman and her undergarments. The couple could not, however, provide the name of the cab driver. The boyfriend did know that he has seen the cab driver come into a convenience store where the boyfriend works. Two days later, on October 12, 2010, the boyfriend phoned police when the cab driver showed up again at the boyfriend's place of employment. Erlanger Police responded and were able to stop the cab shortly after it left the lot. Officers identified the driver as Mohamud M. Abukar, 38, a naturalized US citizen that had emmigrated from Somalia and was not living in Florence.
Abukar was arrested by Erlanger Police and charged with first degree rape, but the investigation grew more bizarre:
After months of delays waiting on the severely underfunded KY State Police Crime Lab to complete testing of the evidence, DNA results finally came back. The sample found on the victim's undergarments conclusively matched Abukar. The same recovered from her body was a mixture of Abukar and another, unknown, male. The boyfriend was eliminated as the source of unknown male DNA. A DNA expert would later opine that similarities between Abukar's DNA and that of the unknown male suggested the source was either a relative of Abukar's or another male of Somalian ancestry.Abukar's defense was that the female may have sat in the semen in the back of his car. A Kenton County Jury did not buy it and returned a quick guilty verdict and a recommended sentence of twelve years in prison. Abukar will serve ten years before being eligible for parole. Read the full story at the link found at the bottom of this post.
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The following people are among a long list from this week's activity in Kenton County Circuit Court. Some are going to prison while others got probation or sent to the felony diversion program. A few more are still wanted for failing to appear in court:
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Father & Son convicted for roles in Covington murder:
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| Leslie Haun |
On 5/30/12 Haun pled guilty to Murder. 1st Asst. Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Redwine is recommending a 20 year prison sentence. Final sentencing is set for 7/10/12.
|On 5/30/12 Haun pled guilty to Tampering with Physical Evidence. 1st Asst. Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Redwine is recommending a 5 years in prison. Final sentencing is set for 7/10/12.
Robert Haun
Others:
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There are more at the link below with an explanation of charges and recommended sentences from Rob Sanders's Commonwealth Attorney's office. Some have been sent away, some are awaiting sentencing, and others will get probation. Whatever they end up with, let's hope as a community that they return healthy and rehabilitated, otherwise the cycle continues.
This Week in Kenton County Circuit Court
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