4th man arrested in 2016 Gardens motel rape case
City police have arrested a four th man in connection with the alleged rape last summer of a passedout woman at a Palm Beach Gardens motel, according to court records.
Palm Beach Gardens police Tuesday arrested Anthony Lekeith Steward, 25, of Riviera Beach on one count of sexual battery on an incapacitated person. Steward was being held at the Palm Beach Count y Jail Thursday in lieu of $100,000 bail.
I nv e s t i g a t o r s i n J a nu - ary and February arrested Rickey Joseph Powell, 35, Antoine Thomas, 28, and Corey Hebron, 26, in connection with the alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman at the Inn of America on Northlake Boulevard just west of Interstate 95. All three remained in the jail Thursday.
Steward’s arrest comes days after police investigators obtained a warrant to collect his DNA.
Authorities say the rape happened on the night of Aug. 24, 2016, as the woman slipped in and out of consciousness. Hebron reporte d l y p i c ke d t h e wo man up that night and the two drove around West Palm Beach as they drank shots of alcohol. They had met when the woman and her mother had taken an Uber ride and Hebron was their driver, police said.
According to an arrest report, Hebron drove the woman to the InTown Suites on Military Trail, where he met some friends.
The woman told Hebron she was wasn’t feeling well and he asked if she wanted to get a room, police said. When the woman said that she wanted to lie down, Hebron reportedly drove her to the Inn of America.
The woman told investigators she remembered waking up at times to different men sexually assaulting her.
At one poi nt , S te ward entered the room and tried to coerce her into a sex act, the woman said. The woman said she tried to resist but Steward overpowered her and forced himself on her.