Officials hope composite sketches lead to arrests in home invasion, sexual battery

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Deputies are working on sketches they hope will help track down four men accused of breaking into an Orange County home, where they beat a man and sexually assaulted a woman late Tuesday night.

Deputies said the armed men burst into the couple's south Apopka home on Clark Street and pistol-whipped the man. Authorities said the men then demanded several pieces of property from him.

"Four black males with firearms came into his residence. They pistol-whipped him and while demanding his property, a female in the house was sexually battered," said Lt. Paul Hopkins of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

"They tore the house apart," said Jane Watrel of the Sheriff's Office.

The man said the four men fled with items from the house.

"What concerns us is these guys do the home invasion and the sexual battery while committing the home invasion, so, we've got our detectives responding and we're going to do all we can to find out who these guys are and put them where they belong," said Hopkins.

The man was hospitalized and the woman taken to a rape crisis center.

Neighbor Violet Fraden said she saw the men walking on the dark road and got a terrible feeling.

"That's why I lock my door. I'm afraid. I never see any people like that," she said.

Investigators said surveillance cameras on the victims' house weren't working.

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.

WFTV