Gainesville Police arrested a man early Sunday morning after officers found him sexually assaulting a UF student in a field behind Midtown.
Police charged Daniel Hugh Moss, 40, of Starke, with sexual assault, a second-degree felony, according to a GPD arrest report.
At about 10 p.m. Saturday, police received a call from a Swamp Restaurant staff member about Moss leaving the building with an intoxicated woman.
Officer Warren Meek responded and patrolled the area for the couple.
As Meek walked by O!O Garden Grille, a witness approached him, saying that a woman was “being raped by a guy” in the field at the corner of Northwest 17th Street and Northwest First Avenue.
Meek went to investigate and found the woman lying unconscious against an oak tree with Moss’ head between her legs.
Meek confronted Moss, who said he and the woman were “hanging out,” according to the report.
An ambulance rushed the woman to Shands at UF for a sexual battery exam while Meek questioned Moss.
Moss told the officer the woman approached him at Swamp earlier that evening, and the two began talking.
At one point, Moss said, the woman wanted to “get some air.” He escorted her out of the restaurant and walked to the field where they began to “make out,” according to the report.
Moss said he took the woman’s underwear off and engaged in a sex act.
Moss added the woman told him she wanted to “go all the way” but said he refused because a GPD police car was parked near the field.
Moss then pulled out the woman’s underwear, which he had in his pocket, according to the report.
Meanwhile, GPD detectives interviewed the woman at the hospital.
The woman said she did not know Moss and that earlier in the evening, he proposed doing “nasty things” to her. She remembered leaving the bar but could not recall how she ended up in the field with Moss.
Police arrested and later booked Moss into Alachua County Jail at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday with a $100,000 bond. He was released later that day.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
