A young woman said she was kicked off a city bus because of a broken sandal before she was raped about 1:50 a.m. on Saturday near the Ohio State University campus, according to a Columbus police report. The woman, 21, told police she was taking a southbound Central Ohio Transit Authority bus from Worthington when she noticed that her flip-flop was broken. What transpired between her and the bus driver is unclear, but she said the driver told her she was required to wear shoes on the bus.

A young woman said she was kicked off a city bus because of a broken sandal before she was raped about 1:50 a.m. on Saturday near the Ohio State University campus, according to a Columbus police report.

The woman, 21, told police she was taking a southbound Central Ohio Transit Authority bus from Worthington when she noticed that her flip-flop was broken. What transpired between her and the bus driver is unclear, but she said the driver told her she was required to wear shoes on the bus.

�She said the bus driver told her she had to get off the bus,� detective James Ashenhurst of the police sexual-assault squad said Saturday night.

She got out on N. High Street near 12th Avenue and went to a nearby United Dairy Farmers store to get something to fix her shoe. It is unclear whether it then was too late for her to connect with the bus Downtown that would have taken her the rest of the way to Grove City.

She got something to eat in the area, and while there she met Randy M. Graham Jr., Ashenhurst said.

When it started to rain, Graham suggested taking shelter in empty garages in a nearby alley. He then forced her into one of the garages and began raping her, she told police.

The garages, which are more like a row of attached carports, open on the alley behind 30 E. 12th Ave.

Two Columbus bike patrol officers were checking the alley and came upon a man and woman having sexual intercourse in one of the garages, police said. The woman told them she was being raped.

Graham, 36, was charged with kidnapping and rape. Graham, who is homeless according to court records, was being held in the Franklin County jail and was scheduled to appear in municipal court today.

Court records show Graham has a lengthy list of convictions dating to 2000, including several disorderly conduct charges, menacing, aggressive panhandling, assault and soliciting for prostitution.

�There was a big police presence in the area because of the (Ohio State-Virginia Tech) game, and the officers were doing their due diligence checking the alley and the garages,� Ashenhurst said.

�The officers intervened early in the assault,� Ashenhurst said. �I�m sure it could have been a lot worse if they hadn�t.�

He said Graham did not resist arrest and the woman, who is not an OSU student, was taken to a hospital to be examined.

COTA�s policy requires riders to wear shoes, but �we would never ask operators to enforce a policy ... if the customer was going to be placed in an unsafe situation,� said Marty Stutz, COTA spokesman.

Buses are equipped with video cameras and audio near the driver�s seat. Stutz said those devices would be reviewed to determine what transpired.

Dispatch Reporter Dean Narciso contributed to this story.

erinehart@dispatch.com

@esrinehart