Charges dropped in Duluth Skywalk rape case – Duluth News Tribune

DULUTH – Prosecutors have dismissed the case against a man accused of raping a woman in the downtown skywalk system earlier this year.

Charges against Adrian Tramaine Greene Sr., 71, were dismissed last week by the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office. Greene, of Duluth, was scheduled to appear before a jury in State District Court this week.

Criminal Division Chief Nate Stumme filed the notice, citing only “the interest of justice,” and told the News Tribune he could not elaborate further.

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According to the criminal complaint, the victim was standing outside a bar

around 1 p.m. on March 10, when she approached Greene, whom she knew by name, and asked if he could lend her some money. She agreed to accompany him to an ATM at the Duluth Transportation Center, 228 W. Michigan St.

According to the complaint, they took an elevator upstairs and Greene began making threatening comments, such as, “No matter what happens, if you don’t come with me, I will shoot your fiancée.”

At that point, he allegedly pushed her into a corner and began groping her before committing the rape.

“The victim repeatedly told the defendant that she did not want the sexual conduct and that she wanted to leave and for him to stop,” the complaint states. “The victim said she thought the defendant would kill her if she didn’t do what he told her. She explained that everything she did was coerced by his threats.”

The woman told police that Greene eventually stopped because people were walking toward them on the skywalk. She said she was able to pull out her phone and call her fiancé, whispering “911” in a way Greene couldn’t hear.

The complaint added that Greene then gave the woman $9 in cash and she went back to the bar and called police. Investigators said they reviewed surveillance video and found corroborating evidence that Greene took the woman to the corner, pulled down her pants and assaulted her.

Officers found the defendant at another bar around 2:30 p.m., where he “appeared to be intoxicated.” He allegedly acknowledged being in the skywalk with “some woman” who asked for $20, but denied ever touching her.

Greene had been charged with criminal sexual conduct in the first, second and third degrees, and if convicted he could have faced significant prison time. He quickly pleaded not guilty and waived pretrial proceedings, taking the case to trial without litigating probable cause or constitutional issues.

While initially detained, Greene has been under surveillance since his arraignment in March.

Tom Olsen has been covering crime and courts and the 8th Congressional District for the Duluth News Tribune since 2013. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth and has lived in the city all his life. Readers can contact Olsen at 218-723-5333 or [email protected].