SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — St. Petersburg police have arrested a man for sexually assaulting a woman back in January.
On Jan. 29, the 68-year-old victim was walking home in the area of 2nd Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street when she met 50-year-old Columbus Henderson.
The affidavit states that she followed Henderson into an abandoned property, but it does not say why. The document goes on to say that Henderson grabbed the victim by the face and began choking her, threatening to kill her if she didn’t obey his wishes.
The man is said to have sexually assaulted her and robbed her of her debit card and ID from her purse before running away.
Authorities later identified the suspect from DNA evidence gathered from the victim’s SAVE kit, which set off a CODIS notification. CODIS, or the Combined DNA Index System, is the FBI program that supports DNA databases used in criminal investigations.
Henderson was arrested Wednesday afternoon and now faces charges for sexual battery, strong arm robbery, and violation of probation for grand theft.
