JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 26-year-old Jacksonville man has been arrested in connection with the attack of a jogger on the Southside in January and is also charged in a separate attack that allowed police to connect him to the first case, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Police announced Michael Lourcey's arrest at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
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Lourcey was arrested March 14 in an armed sexual battery in an abandoned building at Phillips Highway and Emerson Street. Police said they used DNA at that scene to link him to the attempted kidnapping of the jogger at Timberlin Park. Investigators said he had been living with relatives near the park.
"When I stood up before and talked about Timberlin Park and what he had done, it's hard to speculate on motive," said Chief Tom Hackney. "You flash forward to March 14th and you see what his motive was."
Investigators said Lourcey tried to abduct a woman who was jogging at about 6:15 p.m. Jan. 30 on Timberlin Park Boulevard, off Southside Boulevard between Baymeadows Road and Philips Highway.
Investigators said the 25-year-old woman was jogging in the area when she passed a man sitting on a park bench near the entrance of a subdivision. She made eye contact with him and kept on running. Then about 1,000 feet after she passed him, she knew somebody was following her, police said.
The man came up behind her, struck her four times in the head, and tried to drag her into the woods, police said.
Investigators said the man told the woman to be quiet, but made few other comments. She broke free, and someone driving by stopped and called police, investigators said.
Police released a composite sketch of the suspect, then weeks later revealed a hoodie similar to the one they believed he was wearing at the time of the attack.
Lourcey is charged with attempted kidnapping and aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon in the attack of the jogger. He's also charged with sexual battery and aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon in the March attack.
"A woman had met this man at the McDonald's across the street and engaged him in conversation," JSO Chief Tom Hackney said. "She was homeless, living in area behind the building. As she was bending over to pick something up, he hit her over the head, beat her quite severely."
Police said Lourcey sexually assaulted the woman, leaving his hoodie behind. Police said DNA tests showed that the hoodie matched the hoodie used by the suspect in the jogger attack.
"It's hard to speculate on a motive, but if you fast forward to the 14th of March, you see what his motive was," Hackney said. "And it's a good thing to not have him roaming the streets."
Lourcey is also on probation for robbery in Fulton, N.Y.
Investigators say they don't think Lourcey is responsible for similar crimes in Jacksonville, but they say he may have victimized others in his home state.
"With the method that he operated being so similar, we've actually had conversations with people in New York to see if there are any cases of similar nature," Hackney said.
When Channel 4 stopped by Lourcey's home Tuesday night, his mother said she didn't want to be on television. When asked about her son, she said the accusations were "unexpected" and that she had "no clue" it happened.
Lourcey waived his first appearance in court Wednesday morning. He's being held in the Duval County jail without bail pending arraignment April 17.