FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - After a days-long hunt, a man accused of attempting to abduct two teenage girls in Broward County was arrested on Tuesday, and authorities said he was successful in luring a third victim.
Rondel Joseph McDonald is facing 11 charges, which include two counts of sexual assault with a weapon and sexual battery of a victim over 12 years old, kidnap/inflict bodily harm or terrorize victims, and lewd and lascivious conduct by person 18 years or older.
The 26-year-old suspect appeared before a judge, Wednesday morning.
Following his arrest, a joint press conference by the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Fort Lauderdale Police was held in Fort Lauderdale.
According to officials, the first attempted abduction happened Thursday morning in Pompano Beach after a 15-year-old told deputies that a man in a gray sedan tailed her as she was walking to Blanche Ely High School.
The girl, who identified herself as Nariah, told deputies that McDonald held her at gunpoint.
Nariah shared her story with 7News on Wednesday.
“And he pulled out a gun, enough so I could see it through the window, and he was like, ‘Get in the car,'” she said. “My heart literally dropped.”
Nariah described what went through her mind.
“Should I run, and expect him to shoot me, or should I get in the car and take whatever is going to happen?” she said.
Nariah took off running and was able to escape. McDonald took off as well.
Nariah said she made it to a friend’s house. Her friend, Ky’asjah Reynolds, also spoke with 7News.
“She was panicking, and she was like, ‘Somebody tried to take me, somebody tried to take me, somebody drew a gun on me, somebody drew a gun on me,'” said Reynolds.
Reynolds said she and her family called police.
But what they didn’t know, detectives said, was that an hour or so later, about 10 miles away in Fort Lauderdale, McDonald tried it again.
Police said a 17-year-old who was outside Stranahan High School in Fort Lauderdale described a man with similar features to police and stated the man was trying to lure her into a similar gray older model Nissan sedan.
Investigators said she was on her way to campus when she was approached by the man, described as a man in his 20s, who demanded her to get in the car and flashed a gun. She refused and ran away, and the suspect drove off.
“We noticed that there were a lot of similarities. After the sketches, we felt that likely he was the same guy,” said FLPD Sgt. Hector Martinez.
During the press conference, police said there was a third incident in Fort Lauderdale early Tuesday morning.
Detectives said a 15-year-old girl was approached in a neighborhood off Sunrise Boulevard, and this time, the victim got in the car.
“She mentioned that she was so scared, didn’t know what to do, she was in fear for her life, so she got in the vehicle,” said Martinez. “After she entered the vehicle, he drove her a short distance away to a secluded area where he proceeded to sexually assault her.”
Arrest documents said that on Saturday, Aug. 24, five days before the first incident, Hollywood Police found McDonald sleeping in his car and blocking traffic. They would later link the car to the attempted kidnappings.
On Tuesday, as police continued to search for McDonald due to those abduction attempts, there was a heightened police presence throughout Broward County.
“For me, to have to change my ways of walking to school, have to be on high alert, to me, is honestly ridiculous,” said Nariah, “and I feel like he’s just, honestly, very sick. It’s disgusting.”
Investigators said McDonald’s gave a full confession. He is being held without bond at the Broward County Jail.
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