A man was put into custody March 19 on suspicion of raping a Gainesville woman, nearly a year after the incident.
Telvin Sweeting, 31, was charged with one count of sexual battery and one count of robbery by sudden snatching.
A woman was last drinking with her friends in Simon’s Nightclub April 15 before she woke up in the backseat of a man’s car, according to police reports.
She woke up with some of her clothing removed and a man on top of her — she was immediately able to tell she was raped. The woman didn’t know the man, nor did she consent to sex, according to the report.
The man said they were at a park and allegedly told the woman his name was Brandon.
He began driving her to her car, which she remembered being parked at Harry’s Bar and Grill. Instead, the car was at 200 SW Second Ave.
The man also had her car keys, according to the report.
The woman ran to her car and grabbed her phone, which was now damaged. She redialed her last missed call and told them she was raped, all while trying to take photos of his vehicle.
He allegedly snatched her phone during this conversation, and the two struggled over it, resulting in the woman breaking three fingernails, according to the report.
He drove off, so the woman chased his vehicle and repeatedly hit his car with hers in an effort to stop him, according to the report.
She lost him and yelled for a passerby to call the police.
When officers arrived, she described his vehicle as a white Sedan and went to complete a sexual assault kit.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported Aug. 24 DNA testing matched Sweeting, according to the report.
Officers also found Sweeting’s registered vehicle was a silver Hyundai sedan, similar to the description she gave.
License plate readers from April 15 show the vehicle lacked bumper damage in Gainesville, while the next day the car was spotted in Lakeland with clear damage in its back.
The woman spotted him March 19 at the T.B. McPherson Recreation Center and reported him to the police, where he was arrested.
Sweeting allegedly denied the incident but said “he sleeps with a lot of women,” according to the police report. He also alleged his car damage came from a hit-and-run in Daytona. When officers asked him why cameras showed his vehicle in Gainesville and Lakeland, he allegedly declined talking further.
As of Tuesday afternoon, his next court date isn’t yet scheduled.
Contact Aidan Bush at abush@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @aidandisto.
Aidan Bush is a fourth-year journalism major and the Summer 2024 Editor-in-Chief of The Alligator. In his free time, he likes to listen to music and go kayaking.
