Man charged in CSU parking deck rape had prior arrest for public indecency at Wal-Mart
The man accused of raping a Columbus State University student in a downtown parking deck last week was previously arrested in 2024 for exposing himself at a Walmart, according to police and jail records.
CNAW2News has confirmed via jail records that Hosni Batebawia, who was arrested Friday after a reported sexual assault at CSU’s RiverPark campus, had been booked into the Muscogee County Jail in October 2024 on charges of public indecency, willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, and making terroristic threats.
According to a Columbus Police Department report from that 2024 arrest, officers responded to the Walmart on Blackmon Road around 5 a.m. after employees said a man dropped his pants inside the store and exposed himself. When officers arrived, the suspect exposed himself again, this time to the police, before being detained. Authorities said he gave multiple false names and became combative once transported to jail, threatening to stab an officer before being secured in a cell.
Jail records show Batebawia was ordered to stay away from the Blackmon Road Walmart and was convicted on those misdemeanor charges. Batebawia served a year on those misdemeanor charges and was released on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at 10:23 a.m.
Hours later, at 12:29 p.m., police say he sexually assaulted a CSU student walking to her vehicle in a city-owned parking deck near the RiverPark campus. The attack happened in broad daylight, according to officials. Batebawia fled the scene into Phenix City.
The Phenix City Police Department pursued the suspect back into Columbus, where he wrecked the stolen vehicle he was driving at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Linwood Boulevard. He fled on foot until Columbus Police and Phenix City officers apprehended him.
Muscogee County Jail records show Batebawia was booked around 1 a.m. on Sept. 27 on charges of aggravated sexual battery, aggravated assault, rape, and hijacking a motor vehicle in the second degree.
Jail records show that following his court appearance today, additional charges against Batebawia were filed: theft by taking by motor vehicle and aggravated assault with attempt to rape. Batebawia is being held without bond on all charges and is ordered to stay away from persons on court order.
The condition of the student has not been released. Columbus State University officials said the campus police department is continuing to investigate.
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