SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A 22-year-old man was arrested for breaking into a 74-year-old woman’s house and sexually battering her before taking off in her car, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.
The sheriff’s office responded to the woman’s home on Maple Hollow Court Sunday night around 11 p.m. The woman told the deputies a man, later identified as James Lamar Mitchell, broke into her house, forced her to perform oral sex, and fled the area in her car.
Detectives said Mitchell knocked on the victim’s door around 9 p.m. asking for a glass of water. The woman refused and Mitchell left. The woman was later called by her neighbor who told her she left her garage door open. When she went to close her garage door, she was confronted by the suspect inside her bedroom doorway.
The sheriff’s office said Mitchell forced the woman onto her bed, breaking her knee brace as he forced her to perform oral sex. Just before deputies arrived, they said Mitchell stole the woman’s car and fled the area.
The woman told deputies the suspect returned her car and ran away the next morning.
With the help from witness statements and surveillance video, detectives identified and located Mitchell. He was taken into custody Monday evening and the sheriff’s office said he admitted to the burglary and sexual battery.
The victim, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, sustained minor injuries and is expected to make a full recovery.
Mitchell is charged with sexual battery, burglary, and grand theft auto. He has no local prior arrests.
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