Global Courant 2023-04-20 13:36:39
A Florida man has been arrested after strangling a woman and attempting to remove her bathing suit in a public restroom on Cocoa Beach, police said.
Cocoa Beach police said an unidentified woman walked into the public restroom at Lori Wilson Park just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. She said a man, later identified as 31-year-old William Edward Russell Jr., approached her and immediately attacked her in the restroom cubicle.
Russell Jr. allegedly threatened the woman by saying he had a gun. He strangled her and pushed her to the ground while trying to untie her bathing suit.
Investigators from the Cocoa Beach Police Department said Russell Jr. his attack only stopped after the woman’s screams called for people to help.
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William Edward Russell Jr. allegedly followed a woman into a public restroom at a local Florida park and assaulted her. (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)
The victim’s friend tried to hold Russell while 911 was called, but the suspect was able to free himself and ran away, the department said.
Soon after, police saw and arrested Russell Jr. in Cape Canaveral, Florida. When asked about the incident, he told police that the woman had suffocated.
Cocoa Beach, Florida, parking lot and access to tourist attractions in Cocoa Beach, Florida. (Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Court records show that Russell Jr. was released from prison less than a week before the alleged attack.
He had spent 20 days in jail after police said he followed a woman home, then peered into her home and falsely identified himself to police after the woman called 911.
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Russell Jr. is back in jail facing three felonies including sexual assault, false imprisonment and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He will be arraigned on May 16.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a writer on Fox News Digital’s breaking news team. You can reach her on Twitter at @s_rumpfwhiteten.
