South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Police: Assailant threatened death
Man accused of sexual assault in Lauderhill
LAUDERHILL — The woman ignored the man standing by a tree in the darkness until he approached her with a gun and demanded sex, police said.
It was about 11:30 p.m. June 13, outside the Cypress Grove Apartment Homes complex in the 4300 block of Northwest 19th Street in Lauderhill.
The woman was walking around Building H when Ishmael Joshua Brown, 63, grabbed her by the wrist and said “It’s been a long time since I killed someone. Come with me or I am gonna shoot you,” according to the arrest report.
Brown, who has denied the accusations, took her behind the building and into a group of trees where he ordered her to perform a sex act and said, “then I’ll let you live,” the report stated.
Afterward, she walked to her car without looking back because she was afraid of being shot, police said.
She reported the incident, saying the man wore a black hat, black scarf around his face, and black pants and had a deep voice with a Jamaican accent like hers, and he sounded familiar. It turns out Brown lived in Building H, police said.
The woman went to the Nancy J. Cotterman Sexual Assault Treatment Center where DNA samples were obtained. Detectives also recovered some of her clothing from the crime scene.
On Sept. 11, crime lab test results linked the DNA samples to Brown from a database in California where he once lived. He also submitted a DNA sample to Lauderhill police as part of a search warrant on Wednesday. He admitted to living and working in the Cypress Grove complex, but denied knowing the victim or having any physical contact with her.
“What are you saying, that I raped her or killed her?” he asked detectives, according to the arrest report.
Brown was arrested and charged with sexual assault with a weapon and sexual battery on a victim over 12. He was booked into the Broward County Jail where he is being held without bond.
Wayne K. Roustan can be reached at wkroustan@ sunsentinel.com or 561-379-6119 or on Twitter @WayneRoustan