ST. PETE, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Police Department stated a lady was attacked inside her apartment and escaped by operating to a neighbor for assist.
The assault occurred on Sunday, Sept. 11 round midday at a luxurious apartment advanced.
According to court docket paperwork, 43-year-old William Roundtree broke into the girl’s apartment at Beacon 430 in St. Pete whereas she was not dwelling. Officers haven’t stated how he was in a position to achieve entry to the apartment.
The lady arrived dwelling to search out Roundtree armed with a butcher knife and a steak knife.
“When she entered her apartment, she found a man in her bathroom holding a knife. When she attempted to run away, the man grabbed her and tackled her to the ground. She was held for about an hour without her permission before she managed to get away and run to a neighbor for help,” stated Ken Knight with the St. Pete Police Department.
Steve Marotta stated he opened his entrance door after he heard a lady yelling for assist at his door.
“It happened to be a very terrified young woman. You could see by her disheveled appearance that she was in distress. She was needing help and she asked me to help her and mentioned there was some individual attacking her inside her apartment,” stated Marotta.
Marotta stated he allowed the girl inside, locked the door they usually known as the police.
“I thought at this point the individual could possibly come through the door because I asked her, ‘did he see you come to my apartment?’ and she said, she doesn’t know so I armed myself,” stated Marotta.
Police arrived rapidly and found Roundtree inside the girl’s apartment. He was arrested on quite a few expenses together with armed housebreaking and false imprisonment.
Officers stated Roundtree additionally broke into one other apartment in the identical constructing earlier that day, however that sufferer bought away rapidly.
“The resident came home and said she came home to find a naked man in her apartment. She screamed when she saw him and ran away,” stated Knight.
In that break-in, court docket information acknowledged Roundtree stole jewellery and consumed drinks. Records additionally acknowledged his garments and pockets had been found inside the sufferer’s lavatory.
We had been unable to succeed in employees on the apartment advanced, however residents stated the apartment advanced despatched out a letter.
The letter learn in half, “As you may have heard, an incident occurred this past weekend when a non-resident entered the building and gained access to two apartments. There was no evidence of forced entry to either home, it is still alarming that an intruder would have been able to gain access. This is the first time an occurrence like this has happened at Beacon 430. The local authorities were contacted and security footage has been provided.”
St. Pete PD stated each victims are okay.
“She was in tears, terrified, shocked. She was in shock. She was terrified. There’s no other adjective to describe her emotion,” stated Marotta. “My instincts kicked in as soon as I saw someone that was in need and that’s what we should do as human beings. We got to help each other out. We got to take care of each other.”