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CLEARWATER - Police on Sunday charged a transient with abducting a woman from the patio of an assisted living facility and sexually assaulting her Saturday morning.
Police said Timothy Alston, 46, approached the woman about 4 a.m. Saturday as she smoked a cigarette outside the facility, where she lives. After coming in through a screen door, he grabbed the woman, wrapped her in a blanket, took her out to the facility's lawn and sexually assaulted her, Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. The facility is near downtown Clearwater. Shelor said Alston, who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 208 pounds, also threatened the victim, who is 55 and weighs less than 100 pounds. The victim later reported the attack to facility staff, who called police. She told police she recognized her attacker as the former boyfriend of another facility resident and picked his photo from an array assembled by investigators. Detectives tracked Alston to St. Petersburg, where he was arrested Sunday. He was charged with one count of burglary, one county of kidnapping and two counts of sexual battery, Shelor said. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Monday afternoon in lieu of $220,000 bail.