Crime & Safety
New Rape Charge Against Former Tarpon Springs Cop
Another woman has identified Larry Kobielnik and accused him of impersonating a police officer, kidnapping and raping her, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office reports.
New charges have been filed against a Dunedin man and former Tarpon Springs Police officer already accused of impersonating a cop and kidnapping and raping a woman.
Another woman has come forward and positively identified Larry Kobielnik, 38, accusing him of a similar crime, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
The woman, who had been hospitalized, told detectives on June 1 that she had been raped by a law enforcement officer. She claimed that on the morning of May 13, a vehicle pulled up next to hers on Hillcrest Avenue in unincorporated Clearwater, and a man got into her vehicle and made her drive to a home, where he sexually battered her.
The victim told authorities the man said she would be under arrest if she did not comply, the sheriff's office reports.
On Tuesday, the woman identified that man as Kobielnik, who once served on the Tarpon Springs Police force but had not worked there in at least 10 years, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Detectives had already arrested Kobielnik over the weekend on kidnapping and sexual battery charges stemming from another case.
Authorities say he drove up to a 30-year-old woman who was walking along Gulf to Bay Boulevard near Highland Avenue in Clearwater at around 2:30 in the morning on Friday, July 26.
After asking the victim if she needed a ride, the woman got in the suspect's vehicle, according to the sheriff's report.
The suspect drove a few blocks before the victim asked to be let out of the vehicle, authorities say. But the suspect refused to let her out, showed her a handgun and a police badge and told the victim she was under arrest.
Police say the suspect then drove to a home on Stirling Terrace in Dunedin, where he proceeded to sexually batter the victim, holding her in the home for several hours.
After the suspect fell asleep, the woman was able to escape; as she left the home, the victim got the tag number for the suspect's vehicle, which she provided to police.
Kobielnik now faces additional charges of kidnapping, sexual battery and impersonating an officer.
He remains in Pinellas County Jail on more than $1 million bond.
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