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Man charged with kidnapping, sexually assaulting woman

Authorities say he jumped into a Pasco woman's car in a gas station parking lot and held her at knifepoint.

By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 18, 2002


Authorities say he jumped into a Pasco woman's car in a gas station parking lot and held her at knifepoint.

BROOKSVILLE -- A 21-year-old Brooksville man was arrested Friday after authorities said he kidnapped a woman from a gas station on Cortez Boulevard, held her at knifepoint and then sexually assaulted her.

Timothy Johnson of 385 Union St., No. 27, was charged with armed kidnapping, two counts of armed sexual battery and armed robbery with a knife. He was held Friday without bail at the Hernando County Jail.

Authorities said a Pasco County woman left her home at 2 a.m. Tuesday for a trip out of state and stopped at the Hess Station on Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville. Before she could continue toward Interstate 75, Johnson jumped into her car in the gas station parking lot, put a knife to her side and ordered her to drive, authorities said.

The woman told deputies she was scared and she drove.

She said Johnson eventually took her to an abandoned home in Brooksville and ordered her to perform oral sex. She said Johnson pulled her hair and sexually battered her. She said he held a knife to her throat the entire time.

She told authorities that Johnson also stole her wallet and money and then ran into the woods. She picked him out of a photograph lineup and authorities arranged a meeting with Johnson at Tom Varn Park and arrested him, said Lt. Joe Paez of the Sheriff's Office.

The St. Petersburg Times is withholding the woman's name because of the nature of the crime.

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