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Message In Lipstick Helps Save Kidnapped Woman

Former Guard Charged With Sex Assault At Galleria

POSTED: Tuesday, March 20, 2007
UPDATED: 6:04 pm CDT March 20, 2007

A former security guard was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman at the Galleria. He was caught after the woman scribbled a message in lipstick and whispered to a cashier, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.

Police said Colby Minix, 24, kidnapped the woman late Friday as she got out of an elevator on the fourth floor of a Galleria parking garage after leaving work.

The woman said he then pushed her into a car at gunpoint, stole her belongings and forced her to perform a sexual act.

Police said Minix then had the woman drive down Westheimer Road where she asked to stop at the House of Pies Restaurant so she could use the restroom. While she was there, she scribbled, "I'm being held at gunpoint. Please help" in lipstick on the door of a bathroom stall. Minix stayed in the crowded restaurant, officials said, waiting for her to return.

She ordered a piece of pie and whispered to a cashier, "I’m being held at gunpoint. Please help."

"She must have been a very strong lady for her to do what she did -- just to have the guts to say she wanted to use the restroom and then to say she wanted a piece of pie -- to use all of these excuses just to get by. And, it worked. God was out there watching her," restaurant manager Dena Khalaf said.

A manager called police, who came quickly and arrested the suspect.

"Nobody got hurt, thank God, and the manager did what he had to do. And the cashier did her job and everybody just did their job perfectly," Khalaf said.

Police said Minix then confessed to another sexual assault and robbery attempt in a Galleria parking garage on Jan. 29. That victim has since identified him in a lineup, according to authorities.

Minix faces aggravated sexual assault and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon charges. He is being held without bond.

Police are investigating to see if Minix is connected to any other crimes.

The Galleria's security company said Minix was employed as a security guard at the Galleria from October 2004 to November 2005. The company said he met all criteria and was licensed by the state at the time.
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