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Deputies on stakeout stop a sexual assault

They were watching a burglary suspect when the attack on a 68-year-old occurred.

By JOSE CARDENAS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 11, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Alan A. Martin, 27, was charged with one count of sexual assault and two counts of burglary.

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies were watching a 27-year-old man early Wednesday because they suspected he committed two burglaries in Dunedin and Clearwater.

Then, around 3:30 a.m., detectives said they saw Alan A. Martin sexually assault a homeless woman standing near State Road 580 and U.S. 19.

The deputies rushed in and interrupted the attack on the 68-year-old woman. They arrested Martin on a charge of sexual battery.

"Everything happened very quickly," said Cecilia Barreda, a spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. After his arrest, Martin confessed to the burglaries of two occupied residences, she said.

Martin was held at the Pinellas County Jail Wednesday in lieu of $50,000 bail on the sexual battery charge and $20,000 bail in each of the burglaries.

The first burglary occurred Monday before 7 a.m. at an apartment in the 1100 block of King Arthur Court in Dunedin, authorities said. The second was Tuesday around 11:30 p.m. at another apartment in the 2700 block of Cypress Drive in Clearwater.

Martin, who lives next to the first apartment he is accused of burglarizing, got in through open windows, Barreda said. When the suspect was seen by the female victims, he ran away, she said.

Authorities said Martin partly undressed while burglarizing the Clearwater apartment.

"We can't say that he was going to commit sexual assaults," said Barreda.

But "at least in one of those cases the individual had actually pulled down his pants."

When the woman who lived in the apartment saw him, the suspect pulled up his pants and fled through the window, Barreda said.

The elderly woman was standing near the intersection when the suspect was seen approaching her from behind and knocking her down, Barreda said.

Authorities said Martin tried to take off her pants and his.

Jose Cardenas can be reached at 727 445-4224 or jcardenas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 10, 2007, 21:15:49]