Orange County

Police: Man kidnapped woman from Orlando apartment complex, drove her to Sarasota and raped her

A man is accused of kidnapping a woman from an Orlando apartment complex, driving her to Sarasota and raping her, the Orlando Police Department said.

Police said that at about 7 p.m. Monday, a woman was parking in the garage of the Aqua at Millenia apartments after a shopping trip.

While the woman was getting the merchandise out of her car, she said a man walked up to her from behind, grabbed her by the neck and told her, “If you scream, I have a gun, and I will shoot you,” while putting a hand over her mouth, an arrest report said.

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Investigators said the man, Michael Allen Lucas Jr., 29, of Sarasota, pushed the woman into the driver’s seat of her car and told her to move to the passenger seat before entering the car.

He told her to put her head down between her legs and to not look at him as he drove them away from Orlando, the report said.

Police said the woman believed Lucas drove her to Sarasota and stopped at a place called Dreads. After stopping there, Lucas took the woman to an abandoned house, where she said she needed to use the restroom, and he allowed her to go to the bathroom on the grass just outside of her car, the report said.

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Lucas told her, “if she decided to run or do something stupid, he would kill her,” before repeatedly ordering her to pull her pants down, the report said.

The woman said Lucas began touching her inappropriately and performed a sexual act on her against her will before kissing her, which allowed her to see his face, police said.

Lucas then told the woman that they needed to go to her home to shower, the report said.

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On the way back to Orlando, the man stopped at a gas station to buy a phone charger. While he was there, he ordered the woman to use her phone’s GPS system to drive them back to Orlando, investigators said.

The woman said that while driving back to Orlando, Lucas fell asleep, the report said. She said she drove through all the red lights because she feared he would wake up.

The woman said she stopped at a 7-Eleven at International Drive and Destination Parkway, ran inside to ask for help and asked the clerk to lock the doors behind her because she feared Lucas would kill her, investigators said.

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Police said the woman hid behind the counter and used her cellphone to call 911 before Lucas started banging on the door with her purse in hand.

They said the employee saw Lucas run away with the purse, and he was later arrested at Lockheed Martin, near West Sand Lake and South Kirkman roads, after someone reported seeing a suspicious person.

Lucas, who is on probation, was booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, carjacking, sexual battery and battery.

Watch Channel 9 Eyewitness News for live updates on this developing story.

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See a map of the apartment complex below:

Jason Kelly

Jason Kelly, WFTV.com

Jason Kelly joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2014. He serves as the station's Digital Executive Producer.

Katlyn Brieskorn, WFTV.com

Katlyn Brieskorn is a Digital Assignment Editor at WFTV. She joined Channel 9 in July 2019.