TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Deputies arrested a 19-year-old man who allegedly attacked a jogger in Central Florida on Monday evening, WESH reported.
The attack happened around 8:45 p.m. Monday in the area of West Wekiva Trail and Harrogate Plate in Seminole County.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said the victim, a 22-year-old woman, was grabbed from behind, thrown to the ground, and bitten on her back.
“She had one hand on her phone, one hand on her pants as he grabbed from behind and made a sexual motion with his body while he’s on top of her,” Lemma said, according to WESH. “She’s got a big bite mark on her back. When he was on top of her, he clamped down and bit her in the back.”
The woman screamed for help, neighbors heard the commotion, then the man ran off.
Deputies said they were able to obtain surveillance video and other evidence that helped lead them to the suspect, William Stamper of Longwood.
Stamper was arrested on charges of attempted sexual battery and booked into the John. E. Polk Correction Facility.
The incident comes weeks after teacher Eliza Fletcher was abducted while on a jog in Tennessee and killed in an incident that made national headlines. Cleotha Abston, 38, was charged with murder in connection with her death.
“On top of what happened in Tennessee, that’s terrifying to me, especially as a female,” a neighbor said after Monday’s attack.