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Reward Offered In Apollo Beach Assault

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By TBO.com

Published: August 20, 2008

One Of The Suspects

Another Image Of The Same Suspect

TAMPA - Since two women told authorities they were abducted and sexually assaulted when they were closing an Apollo Beach business Saturday, employees at a nearby hair salon have been taking extra precautions.

"Something like this has never happened, so it's very disturbing to know it's hit home," Catrina Langford of Hair Carvers said. "We close at 7 and make sure that door's locked."

Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrests of three men detectives say robbed, abducted and sexually assaulted two women early Saturday.

And St. Petersburg and Hillsborough authorities are looking into whether the assailants are connected to an attack Aug. 3 at a St. Petersburg restaurant.

In Saturday's attack, the women, ages 31 and 24, were closing an Apollo Beach business about 3:30 a.m. when one was approached by the three men, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

The woman was robbed and forced back into the business, which also was robbed. The women, whose names were not released because they are victims of sex crimes, were taken into one of the victim's vehicles and driven to a remote location off Dickman Road, authorities said.

The women told detectives they were sexually assaulted by the three men. The women were then driven to a Bank of America ATM in Apollo Beach, where one of the men used the 24-year-old woman's bank card, detectives said.

A surveillance camera at the ATM recorded an image of the man, described as Hispanic, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, between 160 and 180 pounds with a medium build, black hair, light mustache and a stubble beard. The man is in his 20s and was last seen wearing a blue plaid shirt, blue baseball cap and work gloves. He was armed with a handgun.

After leaving the bank, one of the men got out of the car at an unknown location. The other two men then drove to a Chevron gas station, where one of them went into the store.

When the men left the store, the women were taken to an unknown location, where one was sexually assaulted a second time, the sheriff's office said. The women were then driven to mile marker No. 234 on Interstate 75 in Manatee County.

The women were forced out of the car and the men drove away. The women walked to an emergency call box to report the incident to authorities. They were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated and released.

The other two attackers are described as Hispanic men in their 20s with thin builds. Both were armed with handguns, detectives said.

"This is an absolutely horrible case," sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. "Hopefully, someone can identify the individuals."

The attack Aug. 3, police spokesman George Kajtsa said, is similar to Saturday's incident because it, too, occurred early in the morning at a restaurant and involved three male Hispanics.

"There are some similarities," he said. "But we don't know if there's a connection or not."

In the St. Petersburg incident, three masked men robbed the restaurant as employees were cleaning up – and one of the men sexually assaulted one of the employees, police said. The men entered the Table restaurant, 535 Central Ave., at roughly 3 a.m. through a back door, St. Petersburg police spokesman William Proffitt said at the time. Each was armed with a handgun, Proffitt said.

They took an undisclosed amount of cash, and one of the men sexually assaulted the employee, Proffitt said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200.

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 873-8477, anonymously report online at www.crimestopperstb.com or send an anonymous text message to 274637, keyword TIP155.

News Channel 8 reporter Krista Klaus contributed to this report.

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