Coral Gables PD: 'She Fought She Yelled, She Got Attention, She Helped Us Solve This Case'
CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) – Gary Arroliga, the man accused of sexually assaulting a 62-year-old woman out running, now has a bond set at $250,000. If he bonds out, he'll be under house arrest.
"We've had a positive ID of this person, what people don't know is that we've actually arrested this person in 2012," Coral Gables Chief Edward Hudak said.
The woman was jogging around 6 a.m. in the north end of Coral Gables Sunday, when police say she was attacked from behind by 34-year-old Arroliga. He then took her to an underground garage and threatened to kill her if she didn't have sex with him.
"While he was in the process of sexually assaulting her he was interrupted by one of the residents that lived in the apartment complex by leaving," Hudak explained.
The chief told CBS4 that's when the woman managed to break free.
"As she ran about a block he chased her down tackled her again and she continued to physically resist."
By putting up a fight, and making noise, it brought a lot of attention to her attacker, Arroliga. He then ran off, but the police could have gotten there sooner.
"We have eyewitnesses that were watching that did not call 911," Hudak noted.
According to investigators, the suspect was seen calmly walking away on video.
"I understand reforms but some people are just not meant to be in society and this guy is one of them. I'm just glad the victim, in this case, did her part and fought like hell, and I'm glad that the witnesses even though they could have done more were there for here and for us to put him back behind bars," Hudak added.
Police were able to quickly arrest Arroliga using a description, reviewing their list of sex offenders in the area, and the victim was able to help to identify him in a line up.