ST. PETE, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Police Department said a woman was attacked inside her apartment and escaped by running to a neighbor for help.
The attack happened on Sunday, Sept. 11 around noon at a luxury apartment complex.
According to court documents, 43-year-old William Roundtree broke into the woman's apartment at Beacon 430 in St. Pete while she was not home. Officers have not said how he was able to gain access to the apartment.
The woman arrived home to find Roundtree armed with a butcher knife and a steak knife.
"When she entered her apartment, she found a man in her bathroom holding a knife. When she attempted to run away, the man grabbed her and tackled her to the ground. She was held for about an hour without her permission before she managed to get away and run to a neighbor for help," said Ken Knight with the St. Pete Police Department.
Steve Marotta said he opened his front door after he heard a woman yelling for help at his door.
"It happened to be a very terrified young woman. You could see by her disheveled appearance that she was in distress. She was needing help and she asked me to help her and mentioned there was some individual attacking her inside her apartment," said Marotta.
Marotta said he allowed the woman inside, locked the door and they called the police.
"I thought at this point the individual could possibly come through the door because I asked her, 'did he see you come to my apartment?' and she said, she doesn't know so I armed myself," said Marotta.
Police arrived quickly and discovered Roundtree inside the woman's apartment. He was arrested on numerous charges including armed burglary and false imprisonment.
Officers said Roundtree also broke into another apartment in the same building earlier that day, but that victim got away quickly.
"The resident came home and said she came home to find a naked man in her apartment. She screamed when she saw him and ran away," said Knight.
In that break-in, court records stated Roundtree stole jewelry and consumed beverages. Records also stated his clothes and wallet were discovered inside the victim's bathroom.
We were unable to reach staff at the apartment complex, but residents said the apartment complex sent out a letter.
The letter read in part, "As you may have heard, an incident occurred this past weekend when a non-resident entered the building and gained access to two apartments. There was no evidence of forced entry to either home, it is still alarming that an intruder would have been able to gain access. This is the first time an occurrence like this has happened at Beacon 430. The local authorities were contacted and security footage has been provided."
St. Pete PD said both victims are okay.
"She was in tears, terrified, shocked. She was in shock. She was terrified. There's no other adjective to describe her emotion," said Marotta. "My instincts kicked in as soon as I saw someone that was in need and that's what we should do as human beings. We got to help each other out. We got to take care of each other."
