After allegedly taking several steps that prosecutors would say underscore the extent of premeditation, including disabling the victim’s internet and wearing gloves and a mask, Antonio Figueroa-Acevedo, a 30-year-old resident of Anderson Street in Bunnell, is accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, imprisoning her in her bedroom and strangling her after she screamed for help, then forcibly raping her while holding a knife to her neck, according to an arrest report filed by Bunnell Police Detective Joe Traylor.
The woman managed to escape through a sliding door and get in her car only for Figueroa-Acevedo to catch up with her and put her in a chokehold to the point that she was seeing stars and was about to pass out but for the intervention of an elderly woman, who screamed for help, the report states. Figueroa-Acevedo fled in his white Subaru toward State Road 100.
“This case reflects the kind of violence no person should ever have to endure,” Bunnell Police Chief David Brannon said.
Bunnell Police, Flagler County Sheriff’s units and Flagler County Fire Rescue units responded to the scene. The woman, who consented to have her apartment searched, was transported to AdventHealth Palm Coast as authorities issued a be-on-the-lookout, which quickly yielded results.
Likely using license plate readers, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office located Figueroa-Acevedo driving north on I-95 near State Road 207, where he was pulled over and detained before he was booked at the St. Johns County jail pending extradition to Flagler County.
Figueroa-Acevedo faces three first-degree felony charges–burglary with assault or battery, burglary while armed, and tampering with a witness–and three third-degree felony charges: domestic violence-strangulation, false imprisonment, and grand theft. Combined, the charges are punishable by a maximum of 105 years in prison.
Traylor’s arrest report explicitly and twice states that a “forcible sexual act” and “forcible vaginal intercourse” took place, and describes the attack as Figueroa-Acevedo escalating it “when he pulled out a knife, placed [it] at her neck, then raped her.”
Yet Figueroa-Acevedo has not been charged with rape–or sexual battery, in the statute’s language–and the press release the Bunnell Police Department issued is silent on that aspect of the alleged attack.
“Further analysis of evidence is necessary before we charge,” Brannon said in a text in response to a question about the discrepancy.
According to Traylor’s report, the alleged victim had dropped off her children at day care Friday morning and was back home at 9, facetiming with a friend when her phone went dead, signaling that only SOS communications were possible. As she was “checking on her internet, she observed [Figueroa-Acevedo] disabling the internet and discovered he made unlawful entry into her apartment through the window,” the report states. The woman told authorities that he had done that before. When she tried to get away, screaming for help, he “grabbed over her mouth preventing her screams to be heard and also making it difficult for her to breathe,” the report states. He was wearing gloves and a Covid face mask.
He had allegedly managed to grab all three of the woman’s cell phones and snatched off the surveillance camera outside the sliding glass door.
When she screamed again he “put his hand over [her] mouth again, and around her neck and forced her onto her bed. Then [Figueroa-Acevedo] pulled out his black and blue pocketknife, extended the blade, and put the blade to [the alleged victim’s] neck wanting to have sex with her.” The woman told the detective she felt entirely under duress and had to comply so he would not harm her. She stopped struggling, Figueroa-Acevedo allegedly took off his pants, and allegedly raped her. The woman managed to escape immediately afterward, the report states, leading to the struggle in her car, the neighbor’s yelling (a witness told police that Figueroa-Acevedo was violent toward the woman), and Figueroa-Acevedo fleeing the scene. He had the woman’s electronic equipment with him.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit assisted the investigation, which is ongoing. It does not appear that the sheriff’s Major Crimes unit, which has vastly more resources and experience than does the Bunnell Police Department, is assisting. (The Sheriff’s Office assists upon request.)
It is not unusual for additional charges to be added following an arrest, though that usually happens when the State Attorney’s Office prosecutes the case. The State Attorney’s Office also downgrades or drops charges, depending on the evidence. That aside, the disparity between the arrest report and the charges in this case is unusual.
“Our officers and detectives acted quickly, followed the evidence, and worked with our law enforcement partners to ensure the suspect was located and taken into custody,” Brannon was quoted as saying in the release issued today. “Domestic violence is not a private matter, and it will never be treated as one by this agency. When someone is accused of terrorizing, injuring, or trying to control another person through violence, we will pursue the facts, build the strongest case possible, and do everything within our authority to bring them before the justice system.”
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