A brazen broad-daylight attack and harrowing ordeal for a jogger ended with the arrest of a 22-year-old man chased down by Clay County deputies, Sheriff Michelle Cook announced during an Aug. 11 news conference.
“She kicked and fought, she did good,” the sheriff said of the woman was able to get to a nearby home and call 911 to report being dragged into the woods by a stranger.
“There’s no easy way to describe the courage that it takes to fight back during such a horrifying and frightening situation. But our victim found that courage and I’m so proud of her. Her strength and bravery is nothing short of remarkable.”
Cook said the woman was jogging about 10 a.m. around Tynes Boulevard in the Two Creeks area of Middleburg when she passed a man who she didn’t recognize, but they acknowledged each other. She said he turned around, grabbed her from behind and pulled her into the woods nearby. He threw her down and began to forcibly remove her clothes.
She fought back and managed to get away. The suspect also ran and was cutting through several people’s yards and even entered a stranger’s home in the Pine Ridge home. The owners of that home confronted him and he ran away jumping fences until being taken into custody. Jayson Alexander-Izaak Thomas, 22, was arrested on charges of kidnapping, attempted sexual battery, burglary to an occupied dwelling and resisting without violence.
Cook lauded a 60-year-old deputy, who was “gassed” but didn’t give up chasing Thomas. She also lauded others who assisted in finding the man within a half-hour of the call, including citizens and an off-duty Florida Highway Patrol trooper who provided leads on which way the man was running.
Cook said Tynes Elementary was put on a hold status out of an abundance of caution. The jogger was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Cook said it’s not related to a recent case in Jennings State Forest because the suspect’s race isn’t the same.
“Today was a stranger-danger crime,” she said and noted there could be other victims considering how bold this one was at 10 a.m. initially out in the open.
(This is a developing story that will be updated.)
Scott Butler has been an editor/reporter specializing in public safety coverage for 26 years with The Florida Times-Union. He can be reached at sbutler@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Man arrested in brazen morning attack on jogger in Clay County
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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By Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
