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'You just saved my life,' victim tells officer

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published June 30, 2006

TAMPA - As police Officer John Riccardo drove near the Hillsborough River Wednesday, he heard a woman's screams.

With his car windows down, he followed the sounds of her cries for help until he finally found her. She was lying on the river bank, and a man was violently punching her while trying to rape and strangle her.

"She was screaming for her life," Riccardo said.

When her attacker saw the officer in uniform, he ran. Riccardo chased him on foot.

The man tried to hide in a patch of nearby bushes. But Riccardo pursued until he arrested Jimmie Lee Blue, 50, and charged him with attempted sexual battery with a deadly weapon and obstructing an officer without violence.

The 42-year-old woman whom Blue attacked told Riccardo that Blue used a rope to strangle her and had a pipe. Blue had told her to take off her clothes, or he would kill her, police said.

"I don't know where you came from or how this happened, but you just saved my life," the woman told Riccardo when she thanked him.

"She thought she was going to die," Riccardo said. "She said 'You must be an angel.' "

She suffered a bloodied forehead and several other minor scrapes and bruises.

"It was a life-threatening situation," Riccardo said.

The attack happened about 12:15 p.m. Riccardo said he's a community patrol officer for the neighborhood surrounding Ross Avenue and N Boulevard, where the incident occurred.

The woman told police that Blue approached her and asked for a cigarette while she sat on the riverbank reading a book. She gave him one, then asked to be left alone.

Riccardo said that Blue returned 15 minutes later. That's when the assault began.

"I don't feel like I'm some kind of a hero," Riccardo said. "This is part of why we do this job. Especially when that victim comes back and says, 'thank you.' "

Blue remained in jail Thursday with no bail. Records show he has previous arrests on charges that included possession of an open container, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

[Last modified June 30, 2006, 05:44:15]