After hours of investigation, Gainesville Police believe they have arrested the man who robbed two female UF students and raped one of them early Wednesday morning.
Jay Alan Meeks, 20, was identified by forensic evidence and admitted to the crime at the end of a five-hour interview with investigators, according to GPD spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg.
The incident occurred at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, when two women, ages 18 and 20, were robbed at gunpoint at Gateway at Gainesville Apartments, 4000 SW 37th Blvd., Kameg said.
Meeks forced the women to drive to a Wachovia ATM and withdraw money for him, Kameg said.
He then brought the women back to the apartment, where he raped one of them.
The women were then forced to drive their attacker to a location less than 100 yards from Meeks' apartment, at 3010 SW 23rd Terrace, apartment 83.
"He essentially had the girls drive him home," Kameg said.
According to Kameg, there was "overwhelming evidence" that Meeks was the man originally described as a white male wearing a large coat, blue button-down shirt, camouflage pants and sandals with white socks.
Kameg said Meeks was wearing white socks with sandals and a blue button-down shirt at the time of his arrest. The camouflage pants and gun were found during a search of Meeks' apartment, Kameg said.
Meeks was arrested at 4 p.m. Wednesday, 15 hours after the launch of the search for the students' attacker.
"Even though this was very good police work," Kameg said, "we wish we never had to work this case."
Meeks was charged with one count of sexual battery, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of armed home invasion robbery.
Kameg said he hopes that since Meeks has been caught, attention will shift focus from locating the attacker to maintaining the well-being of the two victims.
