On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested 37-year-old Thomas Lee Simmons of Winter Haven for Armed Sexual Battery (FL), Armed Robbery (FL), Grand Theft (F3), Dealing in Stolen Property (F2), False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer (M1).The victim called 911 from the Stay Plus Inn in…
On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested 37-year-old Thomas Lee Simmons of Winter Haven for Armed Sexual Battery (FL), Armed Robbery (FL), Grand Theft (F3), Dealing in Stolen Property (F2), False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer (M1).The victim called 911 from the Stay Plus Inn in…
Reply
A Winter Haven man is accused of rape after he met someone on a dating site and raped the victim at knifepoint in a hotel, Polk County deputies said. (Shutterstock)
HAINES CITY A 37-year-old Winter Haven man faces armed sexual battery charges for raping a man at knifepoint in a Haines City motel room, according to a Polk County Sheriff s Office news release.
Thomas Lee Simmons met a man on a dating website and the two arranged to meet Tuesday at Stay Plus Inn, 33224 U.S. Highway 27, investigators said.
According to the affidavit, the victim told detectives, The suspect came into the room, he pulled out a fixed blade knife with a brown handle from a sheath attached to his belt and told the victim to strip naked and lay on the bed. The suspect told the victim that he was with the narcotics unit, and he had other officers outside the room. During the encounter the suspect also pretended to talk on a radio to other individuals.
Florida Man Pretending to Be Cop Sexually Assaulted, Robbed Date He Met Online: Police
On 12/30/20 at 9:45 PM EST
Authorities arrested Thomas Lee Simmons, a 37-year-old resident of Winter Haven, Florida, on Thursday for allegedly imitating a police officer and sexually assaulting a man he had met through an online dating website.
In an affidavit, the alleged survivor said that he had started talking with Simmons online before the two eventually arranged a meeting at the Stay Plus Inn in Haines City, Florida, a city about 40 miles southwest of Orlando.
When Simmons entered the hotel room, he pulled out a knife attached to his belt, the affidavit states. Simmons reportedly claimed to be a police officer with the department s narcotics unit and told the man that other officers were standing just outside the hotel room.
By John Conrad
Dec 31, 2020
Winter Haven, Fl. (Florida News Network)- Polk County Sheriff s Office arrested 37-year-old Thomas Lee Simmons of Winter Haven Tuesday for Armed Sexual Battery, Armed Robbery , Grand Theft, Dealing in Stolen Property, and False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer.
The victim called 911 from the Stay Plus Inn in Haines City. He told detectives he had been communicating with an unknown man, who turned out to be Simmons, on a dating website and had arranged to meet Simmons at the hotel. The meeting did not go as planned.
According to the affidavit, the victim told detectives, the suspect came into the room, he pulled out a fixed blade knife with a brown handle from a sheath attached to his belt and told the victim to strip naked and lay on the bed. The suspect told the victim that he was with the narcotics unit and he had other officers outside the room. During the encounter the suspect also pretended to talk on a radio to other individuals.