JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Police have arrested a man but continue to look for a woman wanted in connection to a kidnapping and sexual battery last month, the Jacksonville Beach Police Department announced Monday.
After the attack early July 1 near the boardwalk, investigators tested DNA samples, which they said matched 35-year-old Shawn Elliott Cobb.
He was arrested Aug. 18 and booked into the Duval County jail on three counts of sexual battery and one count of armed kidnapping. Cobb is being held without bond.
Detectives said they're still working to identify the woman believed to be an accomplice, of whom they released a composite sketch (pictured above) shortly after the attack. She was said to be Hispanic, and her first name is believed to be Corinthia, according to the Police Department.
A surveillance image of a black single-cab pickup truck believed to have been used in the attack was also released at that time.
According to an incident report, the victim, a 23-year-old woman, told police a man and woman forced her into a black truck.
Cobb's arrest warrant, obtained by News4Jax on Tuesday, states the couple approached the woman about 2:45 a.m. July 1, and Cobb told her, "you are exactly what we are looking for."
The warrant goes on to say Cobb gave his female accomplice a gun and then said he would go get his truck. At one point, according to the arrest warrant, the victim tried to mouth the word "help" to a passerby, but then the truck pulled up and the victim was forced inside.
After driving a short distance, the truck stopped and that's when the victim told investigators the man and the woman sexually battered her in the truck before letting her go, according to the warrant.
The attack followed several high-profile violent incidents in Jacksonville Beach, including the June 24 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Leon Bennett, a father of two.
To curb the crime rate, the mayor of Jacksonville Beach has proposed closing some restaurant bars at midnight instead of 2 a.m.
Curran Flynn, who has lived in Jacksonville Beach twice, believes it's safe for everyone, despite the violence.
"Around here, I don't think there is a lot of crime. But it's definitely not nonexistent," Flynn told News4Jax on Tuesday. "It's there and it's not very worrisome, to me at least."
Flynn believes crime happens because there are more people in a concentrated space, which could lead to more crime.
Anyone who can identify the woman in the composite sketch is asked to contact Detective Corporal Watts at 904-270-1661.