Police say burglar's crimes were getting more dangerous
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Police say burglar's crimes were getting more dangerous
an ABC Action News report 08/09/06
CLEARWATER - Now living on the second floor, Erica Szilassy will likely never live downstairs again.
Two times within one week - she woke up to find Saul Volteada breaking in to her apartment in the middle of the night.
She believes he came back the second time with one thing on his mind.
"I woke up to what sounded like a rustling noise - it was him taking his pants off at the foot of my bed," says Szilassy.
At 5'3" - the 21 year old suspect ran out of Erica's apartment that night.
Police believe Volteada has taken it much further in recent months.
Authorities say they've tied the suspect to several crimes since January - - including an assault on one woman in a public parking lot.
In some of the 6 burglaries Volteada is thought to be behind, detectives believe he fully intended to commit a sexual assault.
Wayne Sheler of the Clearwater P.D. says, "He touched people. This goes down as a burglary with sexual overtones and we know because of fear on his part and because the people woke up - he left before he committed the crime."
Now facing more than a dozen charges, including attempted sexual battery, Volteada, police say, has confessed to some of the break ins.
They tell us fingerprints and DNA link him to all of the crime scenes.
Sheler adds, "Sometimes they do it if they have an addiction to drugs and they need to steal stuff to pawn it for money. We don't have that indication with this, we believe he was a sexual predator."
As if the charges against Saul Volteada weren't serious enough, authorities tell us they've determined he's also an illegal immigrant.
Tonight he's being held at the Pinellas County jail on $211,000 bond.
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