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Police: Man robbed, raped woman at Tampa spa

Posted at 5:49 PM, Dec 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-27 17:49:33-05

Tampa police arrested a 44-year-old man they say robbed and raped a woman at knife-point, Tuesday afternoon.

Police say Bruce Wilson, 44, used a box-cutter to threaten the woman.

According to arrest documents, Wilson went into Zen Therapy on North Lois Avenue around 3:30 p.m. He grabbed a mint from the counter and started to cough and gag on the mint. The lone employee working, a 40-year-old woman, walked to the back to get a water when Wilson jumped the counter.

"(He) grabbed the woman by the hair and had a box-cutter to her side," TPD spokesperson Eddy Durkin said.

Police say he demanded cash from the woman. According to the arrest report, after she gave him money, he said "it was not enough" and demanded she take her clothes off. At that point, he raped her.

The crime ended when another customer walked into the business. Police were able to recover surveillance video and finger prints. Wilson was arrested at his home less than 12 hours later.

It turns out Wilson has been accused of crimes like this before. This is the third time he's been arrested on sexual battery charges. It's just one of several robbery charges he's faced. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, he spent nearly 15 years total in state prison.

ABC Action News discovered only a few hours before the robbery, someone posted an advertisement for the spa on backpage.com, a website commonly known for advertising prostitution.