CLERMONT, Florida—A man accused of raping an 18-year-old student Wednesday as she walked to her bus stop has been arrested just five days after the attack.
Brian Terick Wilkerson, 18, of Clermont is facing a charge of sexual battery, kidnapping and false imprisonment after he was identified as the man who raped one victim and accosted two more, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The first victim told police she was walking to her bus stop at Carrington at Four Corners apartments in unincorporated Clermont around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday when a man, later identified as Wilkerson, approached her from behind, put his hand over her mouth and dragged her to the third floor. He forced the victim to perform a sex act and later ran away.
Video surveillance showed the victim walking along a building and a person walking in the opposite direction passes her, then turns around, grabs her from behind and both are seen entering the stairwell; both can be seen leaving in opposite directions a few minutes later.
The same night, LCSO received a report from a second victim who said, shortly before 9 p.m. she was walking in the same apartment complex and a man grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. She screamed and ran up a flight of stairs and he followed her until she screamed again, and he ran away, according to the affidavit. Video surveillance in that incident showed the victim going up the stairs, followed by the male and then a woman screaming.
LCSO received a third report that night from the opposite side of the apartment complex. The female victim told LCSO she arrived home from work at 9:22 p.m. and as she walked to her door, she heard footsteps behind her. She said a black male was running towards her with his hands up and she screamed, causing him to run away.
On Thursday, the apartment complex provided high-definition video from the incident involving the first victim. LCSO detectives were able to track the suspect’s movements and he is seen arriving and leaving the complex in a Suzuki Forenza. After running the tag, LCSO found Wilkerson is the only registered owner and lives with his grandmother just a half of a mile from the complex where all three incidents took place. Other videos show the Forenza was in the complex during each attack, the affidavit states.
LCSO began surveilling Wilkerson Thursday and at one point followed him back to the apartment complex. He drove through and parked several times and “appeared to mimic the movements of females observed walking in the apartment complex, the affidavit states.
On Monday detectives performed a “trash pull” at Wilkerson’s home; if any evidence was found, it was redacted from the affidavit. A warrant was issued for Wilkerson’s arrest, and he was picked up shortly before 5 p.m. Monday. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on $45,000 bond.
