Two men who worked for a company that runs the transit system at Auburn University are facing charges after a student was allegedly raped on one of the buses.
Auburn police received a report late last week about a man exposing himself while standing over a woman on a city street. An investigation then revealed an unidentified 18-year-old woman had boarded one of the Tiger Transit buses while allegedly incapacitated, and was then allegedly sexually assaulted on the back of the bus by one man while another drove the bus and, according to police, “engaged in actions to perpetuate the crime”.
The Auburn city police department announced yesterday that 32-year-old James Don Johnson of Auburn and 51-year-old Tony Martin Patillo of Columbus, Georgia were both arrested over the weekend. Each has been charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy and both are in jail on $125,000 bond apiece.
Both men have been fired from First Transit, the private company that runs Auburn University’s transit system. University officials say they’re re-evaluating their relationship with the company.
