A Gainesville man broke into a house early Friday morning, forced a UF student to tie up her boyfriend and raped her at knifepoint.
Gainesville Police later arrested the suspect off Southeast Second Avenue.
Robert Bernard Kirksey Jr., 23, of 757 SW Second Terrace, was charged with two counts of home invasion with a weapon, two counts of kidnapping and one count of sexual assault with a weapon — all felonies.
According to a GPD arrest report, the victims and police gave this account:
At around 5:30 a.m. Friday, the victims, both UF students, were lying in bed when Kirksey, armed with a knife he found in the kitchen and wearing a white shirt around his face, went into their bedroom, threatened the couple and demanded money from them.
The man gave Kirksey about $45 from his wallet.
Kirksey raised the knife to the woman’s throat and demanded more money.
The woman said she didn’t have any cash and begged Kirksey to leave.
Kirksey told the man, “I have to tie you up,” and started to cut power cords from a lamp and fan. He gave the cords to the woman, and at knifepoint, ordered her to tie her boyfriend to the bed.
Kirksey then grabbed the woman and took her to the living room, holding the knife to her body.
He looked for more cords to tie the woman with but spotted a laptop.
Kirksey said he was going to take the computer. The woman struggled and broke free from him.
She grabbed the knife and pulled Kirksey’s shirt over his face. During the fight, Kirksey sliced his finger.
Kirksey threw the woman on the floor and brought the knife to her throat.
He picked her up, forced her into the kitchen to get bleach and poured the liquid throughout the house to cover his tracks.
Kirksey then raped the woman twice, both times at knifepoint.
The woman screamed and begged Kirksey to stop.
“Do not do this,” she said, according to the report.
Kirksey struck her on the head and choked her, yelling for her to “shut up.”
When he was done, Kirksey poured bleach over the woman and around the room. He ordered her to lie on the floor and fled through the back kitchen door, according to the report.
GPD Lt. Will Halvosa said the male victim untied himself during the robbery and called 911 at around 6:20 a.m.
Fearing that Kirksey might overhear him, the man whispered into his cell phone, telling police about the break-in. The man didn’t know the exact address, so he gave police a general location, Halvosa said.
The call, however, was cut off. Police tried calling the man back, but there was no answer.
GPD dispatched three to four units to the scene, Halvosa said.
Officers Tommy Harrison and Miguel Bekkevold found Kirksey walking about 100 yards from the house, smelling like bleach and bleeding from his finger.
Kirksey told the officers he had just got out of a fight, Halvosa said.
Police received a second call from the victims about the rape. Officers arrested Kirksey after the victims identified him.
Halvosa said Kirksey was familiar with the area and initially entered the house to commit a robbery.
The woman was taken to the hospital following the arrest, he said.
Kirksey was booked into Alachua County Jail at around 4 p.m. Friday. As of Sunday afternoon, he remains in jail with a $2,250,001 bond.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
