Suspect in string of robberies also accused of rape
Police say the man impersonated a narcotics officer and threatened to arrest a woman if she did not cooperate.
By STEVE THOMPSON
Published January 15, 2004
PORT RICHEY - The man charged with a string of robberies in west Pasco and Hernando counties this month now faces another charge: rape.
Port Richey police say 34-year-old Reggie Lee D'Antuono performed an elaborate charade to get a 30-year-old woman to perform oral sex on him, and then he robbed her husband.
The incidents happened on Dec. 20, two weeks before the spate of robberies.
The following account is from D'Antuono's arrest report:
About 7:30 p.m., the woman and her husband stopped by an acquaintance's house in Port Richey. As the woman went inside the home, her husband waited on the street in their car.
A man believed to be D'Antuono approached the husband and identified himself as a law enforcement officer. He told the man to move his car because an undercover operation was being conducted, and if he didn't comply he would be arrested.
As her husband was moving the car, the woman emerged from the home and was approached by D'Antuono. He identified himself as a vice and narcotics officer of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
D'Antuono searched the woman, forcing her to lift her clothing and expose her breasts. Then he threatened to arrest her and her husband if she did not perform oral sex on him.
He repeated the threats of arrest several times, referring to drug charges, while the woman insisted she had done nothing illegal.
Finally he ordered her across the street and behind an apartment building where she complied.
As the woman's husband returned in the car looking for her, D'Antuono ordered him to stop and ordered his wife to wait at the rear of the car.
Then D'Antuono got into the car and told the man to give up all his money or he would be arrested. In fear for his and his wife's safety, the man gave D'Antuono about $120, the report said.
The woman and her husband, whose names are being withheld by the Times because of the nature of the crime, reported the incident to police two days later on Dec. 22.
"We notified the New Port Richey Police Department and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office first off," said Port Richey police Lt. Bill Sager, "to see if they had been doing any operations, on the remote possibility that it could be a police officer."
Further investigation did not indicate that the woman or her husband were involved with drug activity, Sager said.
"There's no doubt in my mind the girl was victimized," he said.
Sager said police identified D'Antuono as a suspect soon after the incident, but he was not located until Jan. 8 - when he turned up in jail after being arrested on armed robbery charges.
Sager arrested D'Antuono at the county jail Tuesday afternoon. In addition to armed robbery, attempted robbery and strong arm robbery, D'Antuono now faces charges of sexual battery, kidnapping, robbery and impersonating an officer.
