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Surveillance Image Released Of MetroWest Rape Suspect

Posted: 6:34 am EST February 14, 2007Updated: 5:48 pm EST February 14, 2007

A woman walked into her MetroWest condo early Wednesday morning to find a man inside waiting for her. She was raped in the Tradewinds Condominiums on Hiawassee Road.


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Late Wednesday afternoon, Orlando police release surveillance pictures of the suspect. The pictures came from an ATM where he forced the victim at gunpoint to withdraw cash.

The victim's car was discovered dumped off MetroWest Boulevard, a little more than a mile away. A woman, who saw the story on the news Wednesday morning, was walking her dog and spotted the victim's stolen car in a parking lot and called police.

Crime scene investigators hauled the car away, late Wednesday morning, so they can process it to see if the rapist left behind any evidence.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Orlando police release surveillance pictures of the suspect. The pictures came from an ATM where he forced the victim at gunpoint to withdraw cash.

The Tradewinds Condominiums in MetroWest is a beautiful place that residents say has turned into a hot bed for crime. Early Wednesday morning was perhaps the ugliest crime yet.

"She was terrorized, completely terrorized," said Sgt. Lori Shepard, Orlando Police Department Sex Crimes.

The woman who at Tradewinds Condominiums came home to find a man sitting inside her condo, a complete stranger armed with a gun. He dragged her into her bedroom and raped her and then, investigators said, forced her into her car and took her for a ride.

"We think it was about 20 minutes and we think he made her drive the vehicle," Shepard said.

The suspect and victim went to an ATM, where he made her take out cash and then dumped her off near the Florida Taproom, a short distance from her condo.

The suspect took off in her car, a blue car that was spotted late Wednesday morning just off MetroWest Boulevard.

Orange County K-9's led investigators on a trail back to the complex.

"It's just very scary," said a woman who only wants to be called Jane.

Jane said, just three weeks ago, someone with a similar description tried to break into her condo.

"My son was home. He let him get all the way but one leg in and he used the excuse, 'I was just looking for someone,' which obviously he wasn't," Jane said.

Now, after the violent rape, Jane said she plans to move out, while investigators want to track down whoever committed the horrible crime.

The victim was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

Investigators still aren't saying how the man got in. Early Wednesday morning, they told Eyewitness News there were no signs of forced entry.

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