MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are investigating what they described as a case of sexual assault involving a woman who was captured on surveillance video staggering down a street near Ocean Drive before she got into a car with a group of men.
Acting on a tip about a rape in Miami Beach that came after parties met near Ninth Street and Ocean Drive, 7News reached out to Mitch Novick, the owner of Sherbrooke Hotel, to see if he had surveillance video.
“I had the footage available,” said Novick.
As it happens, Miami Beach Police detectives also contacted Novick about security footage regarding the Nov. 21 incident.
According to the police report, several men met a group of women after they left Mango’s Tropical Cafe and “invited them for more drinks.”
Investigators said the victim was among those in the group and eventually left with the men.
The surveillance video shows the woman as she headed to an awaiting car driven by one of the men.
Witnesses encouraged a friend of the victim to stop her from leaving.
“Go get her!” someone is heard saying in the video.
The friend even got in the car but quickly exited with the victim still inside.
“She didn’t trust those guys,” said Novick.
The vehicle eventually drove off, to the despair of those watching.
“[The witnesses] were correctly stating something about, ‘She’s about to get raped,'” said Novick.
While inside the car, the victim told police that “subject #1 made a sexual advance.”
The report further states the victim “remembers blacking out and doesn’t remember anything else.”
The report states she “was then woken by subject #1 on top of her, herself fully nude.”
Investigators said the woman took off on foot and ran looking for help in an unknown neighborhood. She tried to flag down drivers, but nobody stopped.
Police said the woman was eventually confronted by one of the men from the night before, and she told him to drive her to the police station.
Instead, the police report states, she was driven to Miami International Airport.
The report states, “[The] subject proceeded to order [the victim] an Uber ride, cancelled the Uber once the driver arrived and paid the Uber driver, in cash, to take her to the airport. [The victim] was never advised of this, got into the vehicle and was dropped off at the airport.”
While at MIA, police said, she told an officer that she was raped hours earlier. That’s when Miami Beach Police detectives were called.
According to police sources, the woman was a tourist.
Novick said he hopes a new ordinance enforcing a 2 a.m. last call for alcohol that was voted on during the most recent election will help prevent incidents like this in his neighborhood.
If you have any information on this case that could help police, call Miami Beach Police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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