OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man they say raped an 18-year-old woman while she was out delivering pizza.
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Sheriff Marcos Lopez described the suspect, identified as Osvaldo Figueroa, as a “prolific offender” with more than 70 prior arrests and multiple convictions.
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“This guy should have been in jail,” Sheriff Lopez said Tuesday.
Warning: Language
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim was delivering pizza at an apartment complex on Lepic Lane Monday when Figueroa confronted her before assaulting her in an elevator.
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Lopez said Figueroa then walked the victim away, “like it was nothing.”
With help from U.S. Marshals, Osceola County deputies tracked Figueroa down in Lake County Tuesday and took him into custody.
Figueroa denied committing the rape as he was being led out of the sheriff’s office to be booked into the Osceola County Jail.
Figueroa waived his right to appear in front of a judge on Wednesday. He is being held on no bond.
Neighbors said they are frightened.
The property manager told Channel 9 reporter Christy Turner that Figueroa did not live at the complex, but neighbors said they had seen Figueroa hanging out there before.
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“It’s shocking. I mean, it’s really hits to the nerve. To have something like this happen so close to home,” one neighbor said.
The complex’s management company, Royal American Management, released the following statement following the incident:
“We are deeply saddened to hear about the young woman who was injured in the recent attack and send her our heartfelt wishes for a full recovery.
We are cooperating with the agencies who are investigating the incident. Neither the suspect or the victim were residents of the property. Due to the fact that this is an active criminal investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”
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The state attorney’s office released a statement on the case that read in part:
“While we cannot comment on the details of any active case, we can assure you that the State Attorney’s Office will review this case with the same high standard we apply to all of our cases. The focus of our office is to ensure that all survivors of violence, including sexual assault in the Ninth Judicial Circuit know that there are resources and services available to them – up to and including prosecution of their attackers.”
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