JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One of three men facing kidnapping and sexual battery charges in the 2009 gang rape of a Riverside woman began screaming during a hearing Thursday.
Rakeem Mitchner, 24, was escorted in front of Judge Charles Cofer for what was to be a routine pretrial hearing when the began yelling what sounded like, "Leave," over and over again at the judge and bailiffs.
Mitchner was physically restrained and brought out of the courtroom.
Mitchner, 24, along with Stanley Armitage and Martin King, were arrested earlier this year after DNA evidence led Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives to the first of the three men, who implicated the other two in the gang rape.
The victim was riding a bicycle on Goodwin Street on Oct. 9, 2009, when she was beaten and attacked. The victim made her way to a Park Street business, where police were called.
While initially there was no match on DNA evidence collected, last December, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified JSO they had matched it to Armitage, whose DNA entered the national database after his arrest and sentencing for an armed robbery in Oregon.
Detectives went to Oregon in January and arrested Armitage (on left in photos) for kidnapping and sexual battery. The Sheriff's Office says he implicated the two other men, Martin King, also 20, and Rakeem Mitchner, 24, who were arrested locally in February and March, respectively. All three are being held without bond.
Armitage and King were 15 years old at the time of the rape. All three of those arrested are being held without bond in the Duval County jail.
Joanna Spencer had just moved to Riverside when the crime happened. Since then, she has always watched her surroundings and kept her dog close by. She said there is some relief in the three arrests.
"It's a good thing to know that they are off the streets. Hopefully they are the one's that are responsible and they won't be doing this to anyone else."
Tommy Hobin remembers how the community reacted as investigators searched for the people responsible.
"It was only a block away so it was a really big deal for us. There were posters in the area so it was really a big deal that someone was caught."
King also had a brief pretrial hearing on Thursday without incident. All three defendants' next court date is May 16.