Man visiting from Georgia accused of raping a 71-year-old woman in Miami, police say

A man visiting from Georgia is accused of raping a 71-year-old woman near a hospital in Miami on Thursday, according to police.

At about 3:45 a.m., Miami officers received a call from a witness requesting help for a woman who said she was raped, police say.

The woman told police that she was outside Jackson Memorial Behavioral Health Hospital when 54-year-old Leon Alonzo Norman grabbed her by the arm and told her to be quiet.

“She said, ‘Please no,’ and began crying,” police wrote in the arrest report.

Police say Leon held one of her arms while using his other arm to take off her pants and violently assault her while she was shaking and crying.

Police issued a “be on the lookout” for Leon and he was quickly found.

Police interviewed a witness who said she was parked a few feet away from the alleged attack when she saw someone matching Leon’s description “crouched over another individual” who stopped and stared at her before going back into the crouched position.

Another witness told police that she saw the victim walking east on Northwest 15th Street and 7th Court when Leon walked toward her, grabbed her and threw her onto the ground before raping her and then left with the victim’s pants and his belongings.

Police say the second witness identified Leon as the attacker.

Leon was taken into custody and told police that he was visiting friends in Miami from Savannah when he saw the woman outside Camillus House and that she followed him, begging him to have sex with her.

A nearby business owner provided police with security camera footage that matched the victim and witness statements.

Leon was charged with kidnapping sexual battery and battery on a person 65 or older.

He was being held at Turner Guilford Correctional Center as of Friday afternoon and was given no bond. Police noted in his arrest report that he had “prior related incidents.”