Police arrested a man Sunday afternoon for preventing a woman from leaving his car after she refused to have sex with him for $20, Gainesville Police said.
Robert Lydell Sharp, 47, of Alachua, was accused of grabbing a woman when she tried to leave his car near Walmart, at 5700 NW 23rd St., according to an arrest report.
Sharp picked up the woman in Gainesville earlier in the day and drove around Union and Alachua counties for about an hour, the report said.
Sharp and the woman were travelling south on U.S. Highway 441 on their way back to Gainesville when he offered her $20 in exchange for sex, police said. The woman refused, and Sharp wouldn’t let her leave the car.
As they got closer to the spot where Sharp originally picked her up, he called police because he was worried the woman would accuse him of something he didn’t do, the report said.
The phone operator could hear the woman screaming at Sharp to stop the car and let her out, the report said.
Sharp didn’t listen and continued driving toward Walmart. As the car slowed down to turn, the woman opened the door and tried to get out, police said. Sharp wrapped his arms around her to keep her in the car, but the woman managed to slip out of her shirt and jacket to escape.
Sharp told police he knew the woman was scared and that he kept her from leaving, the report said.
He was charged with false imprisonment and is being held in the Alachua County Jail in lieu of a $15,000 bond.
Contact Jessica Curbelo at jcurbelo@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @jesscurbelo
