Gary L. Holmes, 19, allegedly raped a Florida woman as her newborn baby lay nearby. (Broward County Jail)
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Police say a South Florida mother managed to call 911 as a would-be burglar raped, beat and choked her while her newborn baby lay beside her on the bed.
Coral Springs police say dispatchers heard the assault taking place Sunday night after the 25-year-old woman called 911 on her cell phone. Police set up a perimeter around the South Florida neighborhood and arrested 19-year-old Gary L. Holmes.
The woman tried to call police after the intruder managed to enter the home through a sliding door, but the phone was hit away while the dispatcher was on the phone, WSVN.com reported. The dispatcher reportedly could hear the struggle.
The call was traced to the woman’s home, the report said.
"The communications center received a second phone call a couple minutes later from a female occupant saying that somebody had broken in to her house, and that she was sexually assaulted; the suspect was running out of her house,” Coral Springs Police Sgt. Dave Kirkland said, according to WSVN.
Minutes later, multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the call and, after receiving a description of the suspect, confronted Holmes in front of another house, the station reported.
A witness to Holmes’ arrest said he was holding the knife to his neck, screaming “Bleep the police,” the station reported.
The baby, just a week old, was not harmed, the report said.
Authorities say Holmes faces multiple felony charges and is being held without bond in the Broward County Jail.
The Miami Herald reports Holmes walked through an open door and demanded valuables from the woman.
Click here for more on this story from WSVN.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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