DELTONA -- A 19-year-old man was charged Wednesday with attempted sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl with a knife near the Deltona Library, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported.
A passerby frightened off the attacker after she screamed for help, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Descriptions provided by witnesses helped Sheriff's investigators identify Anthony Egan, who now faces five felony charges in the attack.
Egan was apprehended at his Deltona home without incident and taken to the local Sheriff's Office district office for questioning. He will then be booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.
The assault was reported to the Sheriff's Office at noontime. The victim told deputies that she was waiting for a bus in front of the Deltona library at 2150 Eustace Ave. when a man approached her and started a conversation.
However, the conversation turned personal and so the victim tried to walk away from him. She said the suspect followed her, and she took off running.
That's when he grabbed her by the shirt and pulled out a knife. The girl said the man promised not to hurt her if she kept quiet. But the girl started to scream instead, catching a nearby adult's
attention. The man then fled when he realized he had been spotted.
The victim and other witnesses who saw the man reported that he had a tattoo of a cross on his right forearm. Investigators recognized that tattoo description as possibly belonging to Egan.
They presented a photo lineup to the victim and other witnesses, and they all chose Egan.
Deputies then found the 19-year-old at his home at 679 Hartley Ave. He is charged with attempted sexual battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and simple battery.
---------------------------------------------------------