OCALA, Fla. – A man accused of raping an elderly woman at her Ocala apartment has been arrested, according to police.
Taquino Williams, 31, was taken into custody Friday morning and faces charges of armed burglary, armed sexual battery and possession of burglary tools.
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The Ocala Police Department said the attack happened Wednesday at Saddleworth Green apartments on SW 41st Street.
According to an arrest affidavit, the woman was home alone when she noticed a man standing in a doorway inside her apartment. Williams told the woman to, “Shut up,” and used a screwdriver to threaten her, the affidavit said.
After he raped her, Williams left the apartment through the patio, which had a missing screen section, police said.
The woman told authorities her door to the patio is usually slightly open to let her cats go in and out of the apartment, the affidavit said.
A neighbor’s camera caught the man on video standing near the woman’s apartment and then walking away, according to the Ocala Police Department. Police said the man, who was seen wearing a black jacket, blue shorts and a green bandana, was also seen using the apartment complex’s gym before the rape.
According to the arrest affidavit, Williams was known to law enforcement and was identified as a suspect. When police arrested him, he admitted he went through a window of the woman’s apartment and raped her, the affidavit said.
Police asked Williams if this was the first time he has done this and he said he has gone into people’s homes before, but no one was home.
Gracie Marie Morales, who has been living at the complex for a year, told News 6 that the situation was “sick.”
“She and her husband escort each other outside because they don’t feel comfortable walking out alone...” Morales said. “If things like this happen, we need to be notified immediately. There’s a lot of children here, a lot, and God forbid it happens to a child.”
The Ocala Police Department released the following statement after announcing the arrest:
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