Ohio woman raped after bus driver boots her onto street at 1 a.m. over a broken flip-flop

An Ohio woman who was raped over the weekend said that she was kicked off of a bus because the flip-flop she was wearing had broken.

According to Ohio State University newspaper The Lantern, the woman said that she had taken off her flip-flops after one of them broke early Saturday morning, and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) bus driver informed her that she was in violation of the rules.

“The bus driver said, ‘Hey, you have to have shoes on,’ so she got off to try and find a cheap pair of flip-flops,” detective James Ashenhurst explained.

A press release from the Columbus Police Department (CPD) stated that three bike patrol officers spotted Randy Graham Jr., a homeless man, sexually assaulting the woman in a parking garage at around 1:50 a.m. Saturday morning.

The woman later told a female officer that she was trying to find a cheap pair of flip-flops to buy after being kicked off the COTA bus, but Graham had forced her into the garage. The CPD statement said that the woman, who was not identified, was not intoxicated, and she was not a student.

“It’s very rare to catch someone in the act – so many times you hear about it,” Officer Christopher Billman told The Lantern. “It’s just one of those things – be in the right place at the right time.”

COTA was reviewing surveillance tapes to determine which bus the woman was on, and if the bus driver followed protocol, spokesperson Lisa Knapp said.

Graham was charged with rape and kidnapping. He was being held in lieu of $200,000 bond.

Watch the video below from The Lantern, broadcast Sept. 10, 2014.

["Many Feet In Colorful Summer Flip Flops" on Shutterstock]