Worcester Man Charged With Rape, Assault, Robbery, After 'Violent Crime Spree'

WORCESTER, MA—A man is facing a multitude of charges after police say he raped a woman in an office building, took her car, and then jumped into another woman's car, sexually assaulting her.

Antonio Damon, 35, Queen Street, Worcester, was charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, aggravated rape, strangulation, armed robbery, kidnapping, carjacking, indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, breaking and entering into a building in the daytime placing a person in fear, two counts of armed robbery and assault with the intent to rape.

On Tuesday, Aug. 9, at approximately 5:17 p.m., Worcester police responded to a Main Street business for a reported rape. A 27-year-old woman, extremely distraught, said that a man (later identified as Damon) had come into her office, places his hands over her throat and then forcibly raped her while he held a knife. After the attack, Damon grabbed her keys and fled.

A short time later, a Worcester officer on routine patrol on Grove Street by Faraday Street when a man driving in the opposite direction flagged down the officer. He told the officer that his 21-year-old girlfriend was leaving work on Main Street when she was accosted by a man who forced his way into the car. Damon allegedly had her drive off with him in the car, and was on the phone with her boyfriend when the incident occurred.

Officers learned she was driving a Subaru Forester when an officer was approached by a woman driver who said she was recently involved in a hit and run on Grove Street with a Forester.

By 5:50 p.m., a Massachusetts State Police K9 Unit found the Subaru, with no one in it, parked in a driveway of a North Ashland home. The woman driving the Subaru had bailed out of the car, and Damon continued driving after she jumped out. The victim told police that Damon had grabbed her by the throat and forced his way into her car, and he sexually assaulted her during the short drive.

Numerous officers converged to search for the suspect, and shortly thereafter, dispatchers got a call that an armed robbery took place at a Denny Street business, just around the corner from where the Subaru was discovered. Officers found a 38-year-old male victim running from a porch yelling that the suspect was inside.

An officer found a man, matching the description of Damon, crouching in the corner, and yelled at him to show his hands. When officers ordered him to put his hands behind his back, he refused and resisted. He was pushed to the floor to control him, he continued to struggle, and officers saw a pair of scissors within reaching distance.

Damon yelled obscenities at the officers and said that he had an assault weapon and would not hesitate to "spray" them.

Officers found out that the business was attempting to close, and the door was locked, when Damon pounded on the door and then broke the glass to get in. Several people ran to the bathroom and locked themselves in, said police. When the male victim attempted to stop Damon, Damon, who was holding a knife, ripped a gold chain off the victim.

Damon will be arraigned at the Worcester County District Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

The female victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Their injuries were non life threatening.

This incident remains under investigation.