Columbia man accused of sodomy in parking lot after following victim

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 22-year-old Columbia man has been charged with sodomy and other felonies after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman early Tuesday.

Nicholas Mathews was charged on Friday with first-degree sodomy, armed criminal action, first-degree kidnapping, third-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

According to a heavily redacted probable cause statement, the victim told police that they were attacked in a parking lot around 1 a.m. Tuesday after exiting a vehicle. The victim allegedly told police that they were approached by a man carrying a knife “around 6 to 8 inches in length,” the statement says. The victim told officers that they screamed and were knocked down to the ground by Mathews, the statement says. Mathews threatened to kill the victim, according to court documents.

A sexual assault then occurred in a vehicle, but the victim offered Mathews money during the assault to get him to stop, the statement says. The victim gave Mathews $80 and he ran away, according to court documents.

Mathews was allegedly wearing a ski mask and dark-colored clothing. A resident from a redacted address told police they saw two people get into a vehicle in a parking lot. Surveillance video footage from the University of Missouri showed a white Ford Fusion in the Turner Avenue Garage that was registered to Mathews, as well as a man matching his description, the statement says.

The probable cause statement says the Ford left the garage around 1 a.m. without its headlights on and started following a vehicle and drove through a red light in order to follow it.

Police executed a search warrant at Mathew’s residence on Friday, and found a black ski mask, a long pair of scissors and clothing seen in the video, court documents say.

Mathews allegedly confessed to police that he follows vehicles and has “urges to assault women,” the statement says. Mathews then allegedly admitted to assaulting the victim, but denied having a knife and said he “pretended” to have a weapon, so the victim would think he would harm them, court documents say.

Mathews then allegedly admitted to sexually assaulting the victim and taking their money, court documents say.