JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local man is frustrated and angry after learning the man he mentored for years is accused of breaking into a woman's home and raping her.
Travis Jakubowski, 28, is charged with armed sexual battery, false imprisonment, and home invasion
robbery at the Countryside Mobile Home Park off of Beach Boulevard near St. Johns Bluff
this week.
The man News4Jax spoke with did not want to give his name, but he said he found out about the arrest after getting a call from the Duval County jail.
He says he was upset to find out that Jakubowski, someone he mentored for 17 years, was inside the jail, facing these serious charges.
Jakubowski faced a judge Thursday afternoon. Police say he did not know the woman in this case. They also say just days after the rape, Jakubowski was seen on surveillance video getting into a fight with a young woman and pulling out a machete at a Baker County gas station. That's what helped investigators zero in on Jakubowski.
The mentor said he tried to keep Jakubowski on the right path, helping him get therapy and medication he needed. But he says after college, Jakubowski's life took a turn for the worse after he didn't qualify for the military. Here's more of what he told us:
“I hope wherever he ends up, I hope that he will find God in his life,” the mentor said. “I hope get can find peace and I hope he can find structure and I hope he can find a good direction life and he can make something of himself after he takes care of what he's been accused of.”
Jakubowski has three prior arrests in Duval County, for traffic offenses, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and making a false 911 call. He will be back in court next month.
Police say they couldn’t have made this arrest without the woman in the case, saying she showed resilience by helping police with his description and getting that information out quickly.