Police: Worcester man arrested following ‘violent spree’
Worcester police arrested a man Tuesday who they say went on a violent rampage that included rape, carjacking, and armed robbery.
Antonio Damon, 35, of Worcester faces multiple charges including two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, aggravated rape, assault with the intent to rape, kidnapping, carjacking, and two counts of armed robbery.
Authorities said police responded to a report of a rape at a Main Street just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The 27-year-old victim told officers a man carrying a knife entered her office, placed his hands on her throat, and raped her. The suspect took her car keys and fled the scene, police said.
Shortly afterwards, a driver on Grove Street flagged down an officer on routine patrol and reported that he’d been on the phone with his 21-year-old girlfriend when she was accosted by a man as she left her job on Main Street. The man forced his way into the woman’s car and had her drive off with him in her blue Subaru Forester, according to police.
Police said the same officer was then approached by another driver reporting she’d just been involved in a hit and run with a blue Subaru Forester on Grove Street.
A Massachusetts State Police K-9 Unit found the unoccupied Subarus around 5:50 p.m. in a North Ashland driveway. Police said the 21-year-old victim had jumped out out of the car before the suspect abandoned the vehicle. She told police he grabbed her by the throat and forced his way into her car and sexually assaulted her during the drive. At this time, authorities said they believed they were dealing with just one suspect.
Within a short period of time, police received report of an armed robbery near where the Subaru was discovered. People inside the business at the time of the robbery told police they were closing for the day when the suspect broke in through the locked front door.
Officers responded to the scene where they found the suspect, later identified as Damon, inside the business. During his arrest, police said he struggled, yelled obscenities at the officers, and claimed he had an assault weapon he would “spray” them with.
Police said the female victims were taken to a local hospital for treatment with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Damon will be arraigned in Worcester District Court Wednesday, and authorities said the incident remains under investigation.
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