Any story about someone fondling a sleeping passenger on public transportation is amusing. When it turns out to be a dude-on-dude sexual assault it's even better. When one of the dudes happens to be a transient train rider, it's just the icing on the cake.
Under said criteria, it appears we've hit the trifecta today.
According to the Mesa Police Department, officers were called to the Sycamore Station of the Valley Metro Light Rail last night where rail employees had detained 40-year-old Theo Rogers, of transient-land.
Rogers, cops say, got a little grabby with one of his fellow straphangers.
When Rogers arrived at the Sycamore Station, other riders watched him exit the train and then get right back on.
After passengers exited the train, Rogers sat down in front of a man who
had fallen asleep. That's when witnesses say Rogers started "acting odd."
Valley Metro employees thought Rogers might be trying to steal something
from the sleeping passenger so they kept their eye on him prior to the
train leaving the station.
It's a good thing they did because when Rogers seemed to think nobody
was looking he reached over the seat and started groping the sleeping
man's junk. In cop-speak, Rogers was "fondling the groin of the victim."
Witnesses say Rogers would repeatedly look around to see if anyone was
watching but apparently didn't look hard enough because people were
watching. At one point an employee even banged on the glass to try and
get Rogers' attention but he didn't seem to notice and continued to
grope the victim.
Employees contacted rail security and Rogers was detained until police arrived.
He's been charged with one felony count of sexual abuse.
