Lake sheriff's office asking for public's help to solve rape of Umatilla student
UMATILLA — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in finding a man who raped a Umatilla High School student Thursday.
News of the attack follows the arrest of an 18-year-old man charged with raping another teen on her way to her school bus in Clermont, attacking another woman and trying to rape two others.
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What happened
The 17-year-old girl in the Umatilla attack told authorities that she was walking home from school at around 2:30 p.m., when a man driving a pickup truck honked the horn and asked if she needed a ride.
He then drove her to an area east of Alexander Springs, forced her out of the truck and took her into the wood where he sexually assaulted her and left her there.
She described him as a tall, skinny white or mixed-race man in his late 20s with a long black beard and dark messy, thick hair. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark T-shirt with a white design on the front, and tennis shoes.
The vehicle is described as a newer black dually pick-up truck with a back seat. It is unknown if it was a crew or super-extended cab. The victim described the back seat as messy and remembered seeing a red composite notebook on the front passenger floorboard. The truck also had light window tint, black leather interior and was lifted with off-road tires and silver step bars on the sides.
The truck had large, rectangular tow mirrors had what she believed to be a clear light attached to it, like an emergency flasher. The truck was pulling a construction style trailer.
Detective Clay Watkins is searching for any information that might lead to the identity of the subject. Callers can dial 352-343-9529 or provide an anonymous tip via our mobile app or by calling Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
Another local assault case
In Clermont, sheriff’s deputies received a call on Wednesday morning from an 18-year-old student who was heading for her bus stop at about 6:20 a.m., when she assaulted at Carrington at Four Corners Apartments.
She said a man approached her from behind, put his hand over her mouth, dragged her into a hallway and up to the third stair landing of Building 15. He reportedly forced her to perform oral sex on him, then tore open a gold-colored condom wrapper and assaulted her until she complained of pain. He then ran off.
A low-quality security camera captured the incident on video.
Later, that same evening, another woman said she was walking up the stairs of another building at the complex when a man tried to cover her mouth, but she screamed, and he ran away.
While investigating that incident, deputies received a call about another attempted rape by a man matching the same description at another building in the complex.
The apartment manager was able to pull surveillance footage showing a 2006 Suzuki Forenza arriving and leaving the complex. The video could not pick up the face of the driver, but learned it was registered to Brian T. Wilkerson III, who lives less than a half mile away.
Investigators began following Wilkerson in his car. On Thursday at 11:04 p.m., they reported that he drove loops around the apartment complex parking lot for 26 minutes. They also noted that he was wearing clothing described by the victims.
Because his car was reported being seen at the complex during all three incidents, that Wilkerson is the sole owner of the vehicle, his clothing matched the description, he was identified in a public flyer, and investigators found a gold-colored condom wrapper at his home, he was arrested and charged with sexual battery, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Man arrested for assault; sheriff's office seeks tips on separate rape
