Editor's note: This story contains depictions of sexual assault and rape
A woman was raped at Gainesville Place Apartments and another was kidnapped on the outskirts of UF’s campus early Friday morning.
As of 8:14 p.m., GPD has charged Antwine Johnson, a 32-year-old southwest Gainesville resident, with sexual battery and kidnapping based on physical and digital evidence found at the scene.
UF Public Safety sent out an email to students Friday after the Gainesville Police Department was notified of an attempted rape, assault, robbery and kidnapping around 12:15 a.m. and a rape and robbery at 3:30 a.m. Johnson is in custody at the Alachua County Jail as of Friday night.
GPD spokesperson Graham Glover said both victims were released from the hospital and are recovering. Glover was unable to identify which hospital each victim was taken to.
Under the Clery Act, UF is required to send out “timely warning messages” about crimes that are deemed a serious or constant threat to the campus community. The federal law requires universities to notify students and faculty of campus threats, such as sexual assault and gun violence.
The first victim was jogging down Southwest 23rd Street at about midnight Friday when she told police she was tackled and choked by a 6-foot-tall man on the sidewalk. The suspect stole her phone as she attempted to call 911 and forced her into a dark-colored sedan after threatening to rape and kill her, the email read.
She told police she escaped after jumping out of the moving car and sought help, Glover said.
The victim described her assailant to police as a 6-foot Black male with a thin but muscular build and curly hair. She told police he was wearing a dark-colored T-shirt and khaki shorts, the email read.
The next victim was raped and robbed around 3:30 a.m. around 2800 SW 35th Place, better known as Gainesville Place Apartments, just over two miles from the other crime scene.
As the victim was entering her apartment she told police a man grabbed her and said he had a gun. She was pulled downstairs and taken into a wooded area where she was raped, the email read. The suspect then threw the victim’s phone over a nearby fence and left on foot.
The victim described the suspect as a 6-foot Black male with a slim build and dreads.
At Gainesville Place Apartments, there have been multiple reports of burglary, assault, battery, theft and more in the last two years. But Glover said two consecutive sex-related crimes this close together in city limits is out of the ordinary.
“We don't see [sex-related crimes] like this happen regularly in Gainesville,” Glover said. “We certainly don't see two assaults happening in the same night roughly three hours apart.”
GPD’s Criminal Investigations Division is asking anyone who has information to contact 352-393-7734. For anonymity, contact the Alachua County Crime Stoppers at 352-372-7867.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Isabella Douglas at idouglas@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @Ad_Scribendum
Isabella Douglas is a fourth-year journalism major and the Fall 2023 editor-in-chief for The Alligator. She has previously worked as the digital managing editor, metro editor, criminal justice reporter and as a news assistant. When she isn't reporting, she can be found reorganizing her bookshelf and adding books to her ever-growing TBR.
