Dec 8, 2008 6:28 pm US/Eastern
BSO Arrest Suspected Pervert Beach Bandit

POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) ― A South Florida man who allegedly had penchant for early morning robberies and sexual assaults along a few block stretch of Pompano Beach has been taken into custody.

Broward Sheriff Sgt. Ed McCardle said after nearly four attacks in the same area, they set up a surveillance operation on December 5th.

"We had placed male and female deputies on the beach dressed as citizens with the intent of identifying our assailant," said McCardle.

Two days later, the trap worked, McCardle said the undercover detectives observed the suspect, later identified as 25-year old Donovan Bryan of Coconut Creek, acting suspicious near Southeast 4 Street and Briny Avenue in Pompano Beach. With assistance from the FBI, detectives made contact with the suspect at 3:20 a.m. When they searched his car, a 1996 dark green Nissan Maxima parked near the beach, the detectives found a 9mm Glock handgun and a mask.

BSO investigators believe in the early morning hours of November 30th Bryan robbed a couple visiting from Pennsylvania. The couple said they were taking a walk on the beach around 3:30 a.m. when they were approached by a gun wielding masked man in the 400 block of Briny Avenue. The couple said the armed man was black, between 20 and 30 years old; around 6 feet tall with a thin build and corn rows in his hair. They said he took off after they handed over their cash and an expensive cell phone.

BSO investigators believe Bryan is also responsible for at least three other recent robberies and a rape in the same area of Pompano Beach.

Two days earlier, on November 28th, a teenage couple said they were sitting on the beach at 200 Briny Ave. when a black male wearing a Halloween mask approached them from behind. The suspect knelt down, pointed the gun at them and asked the teens if they had money.
He fled empty handed.

On November 14th, a 30-year-old woman told investigators she was raped while on a bench at the beach with her boyfriend. The woman said she was sitting on a bench by the beach with her boyfriend around 4:00 a.m. when they were approached from behind by a masked gunman. She told investigators the man forced the couple to have sex, stopped them, and then raped the female victim before robbing them and taking off.

On October 25th, around 5:30 a.m., a couple in their mid-20s were the victims of an armed robbery and attempted rape on the same stretch of beach in Pompano beach. The woman said she managed to kick the suspect off her and fled with their cash.

Bryan, a Jamaican national, is in the U.S. illegally. Prior to Florida, he resided in New Jersey, where he reportedly attended Rutgers University, and lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Bryan was initially charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In addition to an immigration hold, Bryan is also being charged with armed sexual battery and attempted armed robbery stemming from the November 14th rape.

Anyone with information on these or other cases is asked to contact BSO Regional Investigations detectives at (954) 321-4210 or Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.

http://cbs4.com/local/bso.robbery.rape.2.882429.html